


The Fallen Prince - Loki fanfic

by ilse_writes



Category: Loki - Fandom, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Asgard (Marvel), F/M, Fluff, Jötunheimr | Jotunheim, Lightelf, Loki's POV, Mild Smut, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Scares, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 09:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 30
Words: 54,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17485292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilse_writes/pseuds/ilse_writes
Summary: While Thor is meant to take over the throne of Asgard, Odin wants Loki to play  an important role in keeping the peace between the realms. Only, that role is that of the husband in an arranged marriage. Not something Loki had in mind... Of course, the God of Mischief does what he wants!The prince of Asgard discovers two things: love and his true parentage, both of which lead to catastrophic events.This story will roughly follow the storyline of the first Thor movie, but adds a whole new twist to it.Story completed: July 8th, 2018.





	1. A role to play

Loki walked the hallways of the palace to the throne room, where he was summoned by his father. He found the Allfather sitting on the throne, with his wife to his right side. Odin was holding Gungnir, his powerful staff, meaning this was the king of Asgard and not just his father waiting for him to reach the steps to the throne. Loki stopped at the foot of the steps, inclining his head respectfully to his father first and his mother secondly. The gaze of his father remained unmoved, he was watching his son with a stern face. Loki's mother, however, smiled sweetly and inclined her head at her son. Loki smiled back shortly, before focussing on the king of Asgard before him. He wondered why he had been called to the throne room, it had to be something official, as his mother would just have informed him of matters otherwise.

"Loki," the voice of Odin boomed from the top of the steps. "As you know, Thor is to be crowned as my successor. There is, however, an important role for you to play in the future of Asgard too."  
Loki raised his eyebrows at the words of his father. The coronation that was to be held soon was a thorn in his side, as it once again proved he lived in the shadow of Thor, Odin's first-born. What important role could his father have in mind for him, his least favourite son?  
"I wish to fortify the relations we have with the other realms that are under my rule," Odin continued. "The stronger our bonds are, the least we have to worry about troubles from within the realms."

"Do you wish for me to go on a diplomatic mission, father?" Loki actually liked that option, it would give him the chance to travel the realms and use his wit and powers of persuasion for political purposes.

"I wish for you to marry," Odin replied curtly.

"I beg your pardon?" Loki was astonished by his father's answer, but his surprise was soon replaced by an upbuilding anger. He was not gonna let himself be married off like some dim wench!

"You are to marry the youngest daughter of king Vonhir of Alfheim. A marriage between our houses will fortify our bonds for centuries to come."

"You mean to marry me off to a Lightelf?" Loki spit back at the king, balling his fists. "I will not do it! Forget it!"

"Loki," Frigga said carefully, probably in an attempt to appease her youngest son, but she was cut short by Odin who stood up from the throne and thudded the hilt of his staff on the floor.

"I am your king. You will do as I say!" Odin roared at his dark haired son clad in black and green.

Loki wanted to object some more, but Odin roared again to dismiss him from the throne room. Knowing that there was no reasoning with the Allfather, Loki turned on his heels and stomped back to the vast doors that formed the entrance to the throne room. One of the Einherjar opened the doors for him so that Loki could retreat unhindered. The dark prince was seething with anger, clenching and unclenching his fists all the way back to his rooms. 

When he reached his chambers he slammed the door shut with his magic and walked straight to the big fireplace at the other side of the room. He gripped the mantle, bowing his head and breathing raggedly. As he let out an infuriated scream, the furniture close to him toppled over from the strong gust of magic that came out with it.

When his mother knocked on the door about twenty minutes later, Loki had somewhat calmed down again. He was pacing in front of the fireplace, hands clasped to his back, as his mother calmly walked up to him.  
"I want to talk to you about this," she said, taking a seat in one of the big armchairs in front of the hearth.

"What is there to talk about?" Loki answered through clenched teeth. "The Allfather has decided I should marry king Vonhir's daughter. His word is law."

Frigga nodded. "Yes, his word is law. But he is your father too. He would not ask this of you if he didn't think it was of utmost importance."

"Then why not let Thor marry the princess?" Loki spun around to face his mother. "Surely the future king of Asgard is a bigger catch than I am."

"Honey, you _are_ a catch! Any woman who finds herself worthy of your love would be over the moon to have you." Frigga looked lovingly at her youngest son. Being in the shadow of his oldest brother often hurt his self-esteem, but Frigga was of the opinion both her sons had their own worth. They were very different from each other, yet both were honorable, courageous and courteous men.

"That's not my point, mother," Loki said annoyed.

"I know," Frigga said with a small smile. "But it's true nonetheless."

Her son snorted, turning back to the fireplace again.

"Loki, the princess will be a guest at the coronation next week. She will be staying with us for a while, in which time you two can get to know each other. King Vonhir is very protective of his youngest daughter, he will not push her into a marriage in which she will be unhappy."

"So if she doesn't like me, this whole thing goes away?" Loki faced his mother again, a smirk forming on his face.

Frigga stood up from her chair, her finger pointed at her son. "Don't you dare show that girl any other person than the courteous son I have raised!"

Loki snickered at his mother's agitation. "Don't worry, mother. I'll just be myself."

"You better be," Frigga said, tapping his leather breast piece sharply with her finger. "I stuck my head out for you with your father. He agreed to a reconnoitering period, in which you and the princess can get to know each other before you are to be wed."   
She explained to her son how the princess and her entourage would be their guests for a couple of months. There even was to be a exchange of servants, so the prince and princess would get the chance to have a look behind the scenes of the different houses.

Loki hardly liked the idea of getting married to a woman he didn't choose himself,  however, he felt like there was still a way out of this. He would play along until he saw the opportunity to end the whole charade, if possible in his own advantage. When his mother left his room she seemed convinced he would give the princess and a possible marriage to her a chance.

That night, Loki joined Thor, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three in the large sitting room in the West wing of the palace. They were his brother's friends, but they were the closest thing to friends he had in this palace.  
Hogun was sitting across from the door at the table, digging in in what must be his second dinner, or third, biting chunks of white meat from a turkey leg. With his mouth full he waved hello at Loki, which caught the attention of Fandral, who was also sitting at the table, his legs up on the chair next to him. The blonde warrior heartthrob turned his head around to Loki, clapping his hands together. "There he is, the groom! How does it feel to be betrothed?"

Loki stopped in his tracks, shooting metaphorical daggers at the man in front of him. Fandral just smiled at him, ignoring the glare. The prince turned his angry gaze to Thor, at the other side of the room, he must have been the one who spread the news. The brawny warrior lifted his tankard of ale in response. "Welcome brother. Congratulations on your engagement!"

"There is no engagement!" Loki hissed angrily.

"No need to get worked up," Thor said with a grin. "We're all happy for you!"

Loki turned around to leave the room, he didn't need this right now.

"Oh, come on, brother. It's just a joke! Don't leave!" Thor took a few quick strides to grab his sibling by the arm. "Let's get a drink and talk about this. I can imagine you aren't too happy with father's plan."

Loki let himself be persuaded into getting a drink with Thor and his friends. Hogun turned out to know a little something about the royal family of Alfheim. The youngest daughter of king Vonhir was called Loriana and she was said to be very beautiful and intelligent. According to Hogun she grew up rather protected and only traveled in the company of three guardians, one of them a high noble member of court.

"So if you end up liking her, you need to woo not only her, but also those three guardians of her," Lady Sif commented drily.

"Oohhh, a challenge!" Fandral hooted and everyone around Loki laughed.

The dark haired prince just glowered. Even if he actually would like this princess Loriana, he still didn't want an arranged marriage. He didn't see the point of fortifying the bonds between Asgard and Alfheim, there had been peace ever since Odin brought that realm under his reign. The Lightelves even needed the Asgardians, as Asgard was a stronger military force. No, Alfheim wouldn't rebel against Odin any time soon, this marriage was about something else. And the more Loki thought about it, the more he became convinced it was just a way to ship him off to another realm. A realm in which he would never be king, just as in this one. 


	2. Guests

The day before the coronation the party from Alfheim arrived by Bifrost. Loki reluctantly accompanied his mother to welcome the guests when they came through the portal. He was not looking forward to this, but he had decided to be on his best behaviour so he had the chance to size up his adversary.

Two tall warriors were the first to arrive, with multiple daggers and a bow and arrows strapped to their armour and a longsword in their hand. The Einherjar immediately took a battling stance, but upon seeing how the warriors stood perfectly still and politely greeted the Allmother and the prince, they relaxed again.

The Elfwarriors stood aside and the portal opened again, now to reveal a man and a woman, holding hands. They loosened their grip as soon as they touched ground and the man kept his hand on the hilt of his longsword. The woman was clad in a white hooded cloak, decorated with gold thread in a leaf pattern. Her clasped hands in front of her were hidden from view under her large sleeves, of which the pointed ends nearly came to the floor.

The man, dressed similarly to the other Elfwarriors, but clearly of noble descent, spoke up. "Lady Frigga, Allmother, may I present to you: princess Loriana of Alfheim, daughter of king Vonhir and queen Aylina of Alfheim."

Frigga took a step forward and bowed her head to her guests. "Greetings, princess Loriana, you are most welcome here. We are honoured by your presence."

The princess lowered her hood and Loki involuntarily held his breath for a second. The princess was even more beautiful than Hogun had suggested. She had a perfect porcelain skin, eyes blue like a summer sky, delicate features and long blonde hair that shone like gold. "Thank you, Queen Frigga. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Frigga smiled and gestured for Loki to step forward. "May I present to you my son, prince Loki of Asgard."

Loki bowed deeply for the foreign princess, something he knew would please his mother.   
"I'm honoured to meet you, lady Loriana. The stories do your beauty no justice."   
When he saw that the princess gave him a friendly smile, he extended his hand to her. She let him take her hand for a light kiss, but soon her hands were hidden under her cloak again. When Loki straightened he caught the gaze of her male companion, who looked at him with a stern face. Loki decided to ignore the look and addressed the princess again, he thought she looked a little shook from arriving through the portal.   
"Travelling by Bifrost takes some getting used to, doesn't it, my Lady?"

She smiled politely again. "It does, my Lord. This was my first time and I must confess I was a little overwhelmed by it."   
She turned to the man next to her, whose stern gaze softened when he met hers. "May I present to you, Lord Hergund, my guardian and loyal friend." The princess gestured to the man to her side, who inclined his head politely when his name was mentioned.

When everybody was properly introduced, including the two other Elfwarriors, who turned out to be low nobles by the names of Lord Bredun and Lord Mordan, the Bifrost opened another time. Six hooded servants stepped through, catching their breaths when they felt solid ground again. Loki chuckled softly when he saw the face of a young male who looked a little green around the nose. All the servants wore hooded travelling cloaks with pointed sleeves like their mistress, but theirs were plain grey and the tips of their sleeves were not as long as those of the princess.

Two servants joined the princess and her guardians when Loki and Frigga took the party outside to the awaiting horses. The other servants stayed behind to take care of the luggage that was sent through the portal.

Lord Hergund helped his princess on her horse, before Loki could offer his assistance. Instead, he gave his mother a little boost to help her in the saddle before he turned to his own horse, a black gelding with white socks and a white nose. Next to him, one of the servants had a little trouble, her shoe was tangled in the folds of her cloak which prevented her from putting her foot in the straps properly.

"Here, let me help with that," Loki said, quickly disengaging her foot from the wool fabric. He looked up at her and froze in place when he met her eyes, it was like looking into a treasure chest. Her eyes were a light shade of brown, almost golden, with gold speckles that seemed to sparkle. He never saw eyes like hers.

She cleared her throat and Loki became aware he was still holding her bare ankle in his hand, his other hand on the strap.   
"Thank you, my Lord," she said softly and with a quick nod Loki stepped away from her and mounted his gelding.

The trip to the palace was short and swift. Loki rode next to his mother at the front, followed by the princess and her guardians and servants. When they arrived the palace servants were ready to escort the guests to their rooms.

"We'll meet you in the sitting room for afternoon tea in two hours," Lady Frigga announced to the party. She also instructed her servants to show the Alfheim servants around so that they could familiarise themselves with the palace.

Loki's handmaiden Liselore and his squire Gervais were standing to the side, waiting to be appointed to the new guests. Loki beckoned them closer.   
"Remember, you are representing Asgard. Serve our guests well and answer their questions truthfully, as long as you keep in mind who your master is," he instructed them one last time. Not that he worried they would make him or Asgard look bad, they had been with him for a long time now and he trusted them. Gervais was even close to being a friend, were it not for the difference in status between the men.

He presented his servants to princess Loriana and Lord Hergund, who in turn presented the servants who would tend to Loki during their stay. The young male who had looked a little green before would be his squire. Lord Hergund assured the prince that Brent had a way with horses and stood his ground on the training field.

"I'll make sure to test his abilities when we are sparring, my Lord," Loki said, although he would rather find out how well equipped the Elfwarriors were on the battlefield. They were not big and muscly, but rather light and nimble. Loki suspected they were strong, even though their first appearance made you think otherwise. It was visible in the way they moved for the trained eye.

To his surprise, the girl with the golden eyes was to be his handmaiden. She showed a head of unruly brown curls when she pulled down her hood.   
"This is Brent's sister, Mirilya. She is very skilled, although I think some of her skills are best bestowed upon a lady," princess Loriana said with a hint of laughter in her voice.

"I don't know, my Lady. Perhaps my Lord wants me to french braid his hair too," the girl chuckled, much to Loki's surprise.

"Now, Miri, remember we are guests here," the princess reprimanded her servant with a smile. "Please excuse her free behaviour, my Lord. Mirilya has been with me since we were kids, I must admit our social intercourse is more that of friends than of a lady and her maid."

"No offense taken, my Lady. As long as I don't wake up with pigtails in my hair, I'm sure we'll get along fine," Loki answered playfully, making sure he made a good impression on the princess. He actually found the girl a little too forward for a servant, but he believed she was instructed to make a good impression, so he didn't expect to many problems once they were alone. The girl probably only acted this freely around her mistress. Besides, if she was such good friends with the princess, he could learn a great deal from her about his possible future wife.

Both parties parted ways. The palace servants took care of the guests and one of them walked away with Loki and Mirilya. When they got to his chambers Loki told the servants he would retreat to the library. "Irina will show you around," he said to his new handmaiden.

"Yes, my Lord," the girl answered politely. "Will you be needing me before tea?"

"No, after Irina is done with you, you can unpack and get some rest."

"Thank you, my Lord."

Like Loki expected the girl was behaving properly now the princess wasn't around. She would have a room across the hall from his rooms, next to her brother Brent. Those were small guest rooms, seldom used. His own servants only worked during the day time, save special occasions where he needed their services for a longer period of time. But Mirilya and Brendan of course didn't have a family to return home to every night. His handmaiden Liselore lived in the city close to the palace and went home every day after her shift, to her husband and children. Gervais lived a little farther away and only went home on weekends, he stayed in the servant quarters during the week.

Loki swung by the kitchens to grab himself some tea on his way to the library. When he settled with a book in one of the big chairs, he found himself unable to concentrate on the words. His first impression of princess Loriana had been good, although he thought she was primarily focussed on the people close to her, her own people. However, she had only just arrived, maybe she would open up more once she had settled a little.   
Loki pondered if he could develop romantic feelings for the princess. It had certainly not been love at first sight, not that he really believed in that. Love was overrated anyway, to him it was just a pleasurable mix of lust and friendship. To bind himself to a woman for an indefinite period of time was not in his character. Every now and then he had a woman to warm his bed, but he never really got attached.

To attach himself to the Alfheim princess didn't appeal to Loki. Of course, she was very beautiful and she had acted nice enough, yet that was just the bare minimum for a one night stand. It was most certainly not enough for him to get shipped off to another realm to waste his days as a glorified doll in a toy castle.


	3. Afternoon Tea

Loki found his patience wearing thin after an hour. Thor had joined them too and as always he dominated the conversation with his tall tales and dim witted jokes. Princess Loriana on the other hand seemed to enjoy his brother's company, she smiled easily and even laughed out loud a few times. If it were not for the princess and Lord Hergund, Loki would have told his brother to shut up a long time ago.

As alway, his mother saw through her son and steered the conversation to more suitable topics. Princess Loriana told them about her family: she was the youngest of four girls, her two oldest sisters already married and doing their part on adding a new generation to the royal family. The princess made it clear she adored her family and would miss them very much during her stay on Asgard. Another reason for Loki to resent having to marry her, in a large family like that his role would be marginal. It wouldn't even matter if they had kids, as the older sisters already produced heirs to the throne.

Lord Hergund talked about the already existing trade agreements between the two realms, from which both parties benefited greatly. The Alfheim lord and Lady Frigga summed up the goods that crossed the borders of their realms, which varied from food and beverages to luxury items.

When his mother finally called an end to his ordeal and the guests had returned to their chambers, Loki turned to his mother and brother. "Please explain to me what the importance is of me marrying princess Loriana," he said in a cold voice, his back rigid with anger.

"It strengthens the bond between our realms," Frigga explained calmly, aware of the emotional state her son was in.

"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed furiously. "That is ridiculous! Alfheim and Asgard have been at peace for ages, there is a long history of trade and king Vonhir's family is prospering."

"Loki," his mother pleaded. "It really would be for the greater benefit of all if our houses would be allied through marriage."

The dark haired prince scoffed, tossing her answer aside.

"I don't see the problem, brother," Thor said with a shrug. "Loriana is a beautiful woman."

"Then why don't you marry her?!" Loki threw back at him.

"I will be ascending the throne tomorrow, I am needed here," Thor answered simply.

Loki dug his fingers in his hair because of his brothers stupidity. "You are needed here. But I can simply be send off to another realm to never be seen again?!"

"Who is to say you and the princess can't live here?" Thor answered, seemingly oblivious to his brother's duress.

"She made it pretty clear she wants to stay on Alfheim," Loki said curtly, tired of the conversation. His mother probably understood his feelings, but she just followed the Allfather's lead. And Thor... well, Thor was just Thor, ignorant of the deeper feelings of life.

When Loki got back to his chambers, his mood was still dark. When he opened the door, he caught his new handmaiden standing by one of the bookcases, a book in her hand. She closed it quickly and put it back on the shelf.

"I beg your pardon, my Lord," she said, keeping her head down. "I was just..."

"Reading," Loki finished her sentence for her. Despite his sarcastic tone, she flashed her eyes up at him, the hint of a smile visible on her lips. She had spunk, this handmaiden.

But she quickly lowered her head again. "I am truly sorry, my Lord. I was just admiring your collection. It will not happen again."

Loki took up the book she had put back on the shelf. It was the first volume of a series about the history of Asgard. "You like history?" he asked the servant next to him.

She nodded. "Yes, my Lord. I love old stories."

Loki turned around and walked over to another bookcase, close to his bed. He took out an old book, worn from reading a lot. "Better start with this one. I don't want you to be put off by Lord Esiro's dry prose if you want to read about Asgard." He handed the book to the surprised girl. "Just put it back when you are done with it." Lending her the book was nothing, Gervais often read his books too.

"Thank you, my Lord!" she exclaimed happily. "You are too kind." Putting the book away in the front pocket of her dress, she asked him if she could do anything for him.

"Draw me a bath and put out my formal attire on the bed." There would be a dinner tonight to welcome the guests and celebrate the upcoming coronation, attended by every Asgardian of importance in the palace.

"You need your party armour, my Lord?"

"I beg your pardon?" Loki turned around to the girl, his eyebrows raised in wonder.

"I'm sorry, my Lord, that's what Irina called it." The maid fumbled with the string that gathered her dress, obviously embarrassed.

Loki couldn't help but smile at her awkwardness. Despite his dark thoughts, this young woman managed to lighten his mood. "Just draw me that bath, will you?"

"Yes, my Lord!" She hurried to the bathroom and soon he heard the water running.

When he got out of the tub, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, he found Mirilya sitting on the large wooden chest at the foot of his bed. She was reading the book he gave her, but quickly put it away when she heard him coming in the room. He saw her do a double take looking at his bare torso before averting her eyes. Maybe this was the first time she worked for a man?

"I hope this is the right attire, my Lord," she said, gesturing to the clothes on the bed. She actually had managed to pick the right garments, suitable for a formal dinner like tonight.

"You did well," he told her.

"I am sorry I was reading just now, my Lord," she said softly. How many times did she excuse herself already today?

"Reading expands the mind," he told her absentmindedly. "You'll develop a better eye for the tasks at hand when you are in my service longer, I hope," he added a bit more strict.

"Of course, my Lord! I will do the best I can."

"I trust you will. Now, tell your brother to get himself ready for dinner. He is to accompany me as my squire. After that, get my room ready for the night. That is your last task for today."

"You will not need me tonight, my Lord?" she asked in a surprised voice.

He shook his head to dismiss her. "Breakfast at dawn. That is all."

When he was dressed up it was still a little early to go to the dining hall, so Loki decided to take a stroll to the stables. There he found Gervais, checking up on the horses before leaving them for the night. He was already dressed in his formal clothes too, wearing his old boots in the stable. Loki had spotted his freshly polished boots by the door.

"Good evening, my Lord," the squire greeted his master.

"Good evening, Gervais, everything alright here?"

"Sure, everything under control."

"And how are our guests?" Loki looked at his squire expectantly.

"Keeping to themselves, mostly. I think Lady Loriana is pleased with Liselore's services."

"And is Lord Gerhund pleased with you?"

Gervais shrugs. "I think so, he is kind of hard to read. Besides, he's been with the Lady most of the time. I haven't seen him that much."

"Alright, well, keep me informed. I'd like to get to know them better and I value your opinion too."

"Will do."

When Gervais was done they walked back to the palace side by side. The gardens were beautiful in the twilight, Loki had often used the beauty of the gardens to woo a lady. Maybe he should take the princess for a stroll too, he was supposed to win her heart after all. But the mere thought of seducing the princess so they can marry and move to Alfheim filled him with dread and anger.

Gervais raised him from his thoughts with a question. "My Lord, is it true that you will be marrying the princess?"

"Not if I can help it," Loki muttered under his breath, before telling his servant nothing had been set in stone yet.

"She is a beautiful woman, my Lord," Gervais remarked.

"Beauty fades," Loki retorted sharply.

"Not with Lightelves, at least not that fast," the squire chuckled.

Loki grinned. "You've got me there, my friend."


	4. Dinner

As he walked up to the entrance of the dining hall, a young woman came to his side. "My Lord, my brother is sick, travelling the Bifrost didn't become him. I will be filling in for him, I hope you don't mind?"

Loki looked the woman up and down, Mirilya was hardly recognisable. Her unruly curls were put up in a snood at the back of her neck and she was wearing a long dress with sleeves in a pale shade of green. She looked a little older now her curls were tamed, less like a girl, more like a woman. Because of the simplicity of her outfit, her sparkling golden eyes got all the attention. And right now, those eyes were fixed on his face, watching him a little unsure. Loki checked himself, tearing lose from her gaze, so he could confirm it was alright with him.

When he walked into the richly decorated dining hall, his handmaiden following him a few steps back, he had her beautiful eyes on his mind. It was easy to lose yourself in the sparkling depths of their gold vision.

Just as he reached the table, where everyone was waiting to be seated, a page announced the entrance of the King and Queen of Asgard, followed by their guest of honor, princess Loriana. The Lady of Alfheim was escorted by Lord Hergund, looking splendid in his formal attire. The princess looked even more beautiful than earlier today, wearing a dark green dress that just floated around her. Her otherwise straight hair had wavy curls in it that cascaded down her back. Her ensemble was completed with gold jewelry and Loki knew that the colors she was wearing tonight were chosen for him.

He took her over from her escort and pulled out a chair for the princess, while bestowing her with compliments about her looks. His parents looked upon them approvingly, but to Loki Odin's content smile was like a knife in the gut. He was sure the Allfather was just trying to get rid of him, by sending him off to another realm.

Lady Frigga was sitting on Loki's left side and Lady Loriana on his right. Across the table from them sat Thor and Lord Hergund, who were entertaining each other with tall tales. Even Odin joined in every now and then.

Loki couldn't help but notice the male Lightelf glancing in his direction every now and then and when he did, his gaze wasn't friendly. Loki, who was having a vivid conversation with the princess, didn't quite understand why Lord Hergund would disapprove of him talking to Lady Loriana. After all, the whole reason she was here was for them to get to know each other.

Thor was drinking ale in his usual fashion, keeping his squire busy by asking for refills at a steady pace. Lord Hergund wasn't nearly drinking as much, putting his hand over his tankard more than once when Thor's squire came to fill the mugs.

Behind Loki, Mirilya was standing by to keep their glasses filled. "More wine, my Lord?" she asked, as soon as his glass was empty.

"No, I'm not keeping my brother's pace, girl," Loki answered her, glancing over at his brother disapprovingly. It wouldn't be long before his brother would be in his cups, coronation or no coronation tomorrow. "Just keep me at your Lady's pace, that should be fine," Loki gestured to the glass of the princess, that was still half full of red wine.

Mirilya chuckled. "I believe that would leave you quite thirsty, my Lord. My Lady can easily nurse one glass of wine for a whole evening."

"In that case, fill me up." Loki held up his glass for her to refill. He needed some alcohol if he was to keep up this friendly facade for the entire evening. Lady Loriana was pleasant company and it wasn't hard to talk to her, but Loki wasn't interested in her. She was actually quite boring, she was so polished and neat, there wasn't an edge about her at all. He could not imagine ever falling for her.

Because his mother and the princess were deep in conversation, with Loki seated in the middle, he stood up to switch places with the princess. Never interrupting their talk, the women babbled on while Loki pushed Lady Loriana's chair in. When he took a step back, glad to be standing up after sitting a whole evening, he bumped into his handmaiden. She had filled up the glasses of the noblemen sitting next to him at the table and had just turned back to put the pitcher of wine back on the side table. His hands flew up to steady her by her arms, however, he couldn't prevent that she spilled wine over her hands.

"Oh! Pardon me, my Lord!" she exclaimed. "Did I spill on you?"

"No harm done," Loki answered, taking the pitcher of wine from her. He gave her a napkin from the table. "Here, use this."

"Thank you, my Lord." Mirilya looked up at him, smiling shyly while she dried her hands.

"Are you enjoying yourself? It must be a bit boring, waiting on us." Loki asked before he could stop himself. Why would he be talking to a servant like that?

"It's alright, my Lord. I'm used to it," she answered softly.

"Should've brought your book, right?" Loki jested and he got a big smile from Mirilya in reward.

After dinner, the guests milled about in the dining hall, talking in small groups. Loki walked over to the princess, who was standing with Lord Hergund and a couple of Asgardian noblemen.

"My Lady, could I interest you in a stroll in the garden? The palace gardens are quite lovely under the light of the stars," Loki asked with a small bow.

"Thank you for your offer, my Lord," the princess replied sweetly. "But I'm afraid I'll have to call it a night." She put a hand upon Lord Hergunds arm shortly, as to let him know to take her away. "Can I take you up on your offer another night?" she asked Loki.

"Of course, my Lady. I wish you good night." Loki bowed again and watched the princess and her guardian leave the dining hall. Lord Hergund had given her his arm and she held him close. Maybe a little closer than you would have expected from a princess and her protector. Could it be there was more to them? Loki stored that thought away for later when his brother suddenly showed up next to him and put an arm around his shoulders.

"My brother!" Thor boomed, slurring his words a bit. "Isn't it wonderful? After tomorrow, I will be king of Asgard. And soon, you'll be married to the beautiful Lady Loriana."  
"Yes, wonderful," Loki replied icy, stepping away from Thor's arm. The thought of that oaf becoming king filled him with anger. Thor was all acting before thinking, he always followed his heart, never his head. Actually, no surprise there, as Loki was quite sure Thor's head was filled with muscles instead of brains.

His brother jumbled some words together to tell him it was going to be a great day, tomorrow. "Yes, a great day," Loki replied annoyed. "I might as well get some rest. See you tomorrow, brother." He dodged a slap on the shoulder from Thor and made his way to the door. There was no need in saying good night to his parents, as they had left the party a little earlier.

Before he left the dining hall, a flash of pale green told him Mirilya was following him out a few steps behind him. Loki thought of going straight to his rooms, but reconsidered. After sitting at a table for the whole night, he could use the exercise, so he went out to the palace gardens after all. No princess to enjoy this with tonight, but that didn't matter. He savoured the night air, heavy with the smell of rain and a freshly mowed lawn. The gravel under his feet crunched with every step.

"If you are coming with me, at least walk beside me," he called out softly over his shoulder. He heard a sharp intake of breath before the light footsteps behind him picked up their pace and Mirilya appeared at his side.

"You didn't have to follow me outside, you know," Loki said to her.

"I didn't know if you would need me, my Lord," she answered. "And... it is beautiful out here."

"It is, isn't it?" He looked around him, his eyes fully adjusted to the dark. The light of the moon and stars was just enough to cast a painting of silvery light and black shadows across the gardens. The wet grass glistened in the moonlight.

The young woman next to him put her arms around her torso and rubbed her hands over her upper arms. "Are you cold?" the prince asked, looking down to his companion.

She shook her head, before admitting she was a little cold anyway. "I didn't have time to get my cloak."

Loki chuckled. "Silly girl." He took off his long coat and placed it over her shoulders.

"My Lord! You shouldn't!" She wanted to take off the coat, but he put his hand on her shoulder to prevent it.   
"I can't thank you enough, my Lord. You have been more than kind to me today," Mirilya said, beaming up to him. "But aren't you getting cold now?"

The dark haired prince shrugged. "The cold doesn't bother me."

They walked in silence for a while, taking in the scenery. To Mirilya everything was new and Loki enjoyed her quiet responses to what she saw around her. Her face lit up every time she discovered something that she liked. Loki found he was watching her more than the scenery. 

After some time she started to ask questions. First about the things she saw in the garden, but she also asked about life in Asgard and its people. Talking came easy to them, Loki was surprised to find they were soon telling each other little things about themselves. And all the while Loki was very much aware of her movements as she walked next to him, the distance between them seemed to decrease as their conversation became more personal. There was a voice in the back of his head that kept reminding him she was a servant, his handmaiden. But he was too intrigued with her mind and beauty to listen to common sense.

When they reached the end of the gardens, Loki turned to the young woman next to him. "I want to show you something, but we'll have to walk a little further. Do you want to go, or are you too cold?"

"I'm not cold anymore," Mirilya said, fidgeting contently inside his coat that was way too big for her. She looked around her. "Is it even more beautiful than this garden?"

"I think it is," Loki said, gazing at the young Lightelf who seemed to glow in the moonlight.

"Then I want to see it," the young woman replied, looking up to him with a smile.

They left the palace gardens and walked down a grassy slope, with a forest waiting for them down the hill. Before reaching the forest, they turned right, to walk around it.   
Before rounding the last corner he told his handmaiden to close her eyes.

"But, my Lord, I won't be able to see where I'm going!" she protested, stating the obvious.

"I'll guide you," he said, holding his hand out to her. The look she gave him   
made his heart skip a beat, even in the dark. But he kept his face even and held in a sigh when she put her warm hand in his and closed her eyes.

A couple of minutes later they were standing right in front of the Rainbow Bridge, it's colours lighting up in the dark. The bridge looked magnificent in daylight, when rays of sunshine played with the sparkling deck. But at night the colours deepened and Loki loved how it looked in the dark even more. He reluctantly let go of Mirilya's hand and told her to open her eyes.

When she did, she gasped and put a hand to her mouth. With her other hand she grabbed his hand again, squeezing his fingers. "Ohh... it's so beautiful. I love it!"   
A few seconds later she seemed to realise what she was doing and dropped his hand like it was on fire. "I'm so sorry, my Lord. I didn't mean to..."

"It's alright, Mirilya. I'm glad you like it."


	5. The coronation

Loki stood on the balcony, watching the gardens he had walked in last night getting their first rays of sunshine of the day, as he heard the door open. He also heard the familiar sounds of his breakfast being brought in on a tray. "On the table by the window, please," he called into the room and her response of 'Yes, my Lord' followed suit.

When he stepped in the room she was waiting by the door. "What can I do for you this morning, my Lord?"

Liselore would have known what to do without having to ask for it, but Loki didn't mind telling his new handmaiden what she had to do. The young woman was a quick learner, he was sure that after a couple of days she wouldn't have to ask anymore.

"It's time to get out the party armour," he told her, keeping an eye on her reaction from his seat. He was rewarded with another big smile that made her eyes sparkle. He loved seeing her smile, it lit up her whole face.

While he ate his breakfast Mirilya busied herself with laying out his ceremonial armour on the bed, piece by piece. "Don't forget the helmet," Loki called after her when she walked into his changing room again.

A few moments later she came out again, turning over his horned helmet in her hands. "Is this your signature style?"

He chuckled. "It is. You don't like it?"

"It's kinda... horny," she answered, holding the helmet up to the light. "Oh, and dirty. I'll better clean it for you."

Loki watched her walk out the door, wondering if her choice of words was on purpose. He had been close to kissing her last night, standing by the Rainbow Bridge. She had looked so cute, her eyes big to take it all in. He didn't think she would have protested if he had kissed her. There was something between them, some kind of click, even if they only met not even 24 hours ago. The prince thought it a cruel trick of fate he met the woman he potentially loved when he was pushed into marrying another.

"You look good, my Lord," Mirilya said when he had donned his ceremonial armour.

"Thank you, my dear," he answered with a smile, loving her silent reaction of widening her eyes to his use of the endearment. He took the horned helmet out of her hands when she forgot to hand it to him, never taking his eyes off her. She blushed under his gaze, her cheeks slowly turning pink, and averted her eyes. Like all Lightelves she had a skin like porcelain, seemingly flawless. But if you looked closely, like he did now, you could spot tiny freckles around her nose. "I think you look good too," he said under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear. She gasped, quickly looking up at him, her cheeks getting even more coloured than they already were.

Loki chuckled at her reaction, loving every bit of it. He would have liked to prolong this little thing they had going, but the coronation was almost starting. "Is your brother feeling better?" he asked the young woman, giving her a rueful smile.

She took a deep breath and smiled back, be it a little wavered. "Yes, my Lord. He's waiting for you outside."

"Good, I have to get going." Loki walked to the door and turned back with his hand on the doorknob. "Oh, and Mirilya, please don't wander around the palace during the ceremony."

"I wasn't planning to, my Lord. Why?"

Loki grinned when he heard her question his request. No matter how skillful she was at her job, she certainly had some trouble with compliance. "The Einherjar will be on edge today. You're a new face in the palace, I don't want you to get into trouble."

"I'll stay in my room, my Lord. Maybe I'll have some time to read," she answered. "After I cleaned your rooms, of course," she added quickly.

The prince chuckled and opened the door. "Good girl."

Like Mirilya said, her brother Brent was waiting for him in the hallway. The young man followed in his footsteps after greeting him politely. Loki sent his squire in the throne room and went into the back himself. He found his own brother pacing the back room, turning over his helmet in his hands. "Nervous, my brother?" Loki asked, slapping him on the back. It amused him to see Thor out of his element, not knowing how to act.

"A bit," Thor admitted, honest as always. He put his helmet on his head, the one with the silly little wings on the side. "How do I look?"

"Like a king," Loki answered, forcing himself to smile at his brother.

Lady Frigga entered the room, pulling first Thor in for a hug, and then Loki. "I heard you went for a stroll in the gardens with a woman last night," she whispered in his ear. "Did you and the princess get to know each other better?"

He knew his mother had her little birds all around the palace, the Allmother was notorious for knowing everything, but this time she had her facts crossed. "It's only been one day, mother. Don't get overexcited."

He escorted his mother into the throne room, where the Allfather was looking down upon them. The room was filled with people looking at them, admiring the royal family of Asgard. In his mind, Loki could easily see himself kneel down before the throne, speak the oaths and recieve the crown upon his head. But that would have to be done by Odin and there was the problem. The old man would never crown him king, it even had come to the point that the Allfather wanted him out of his sight. Loki glanced over to where princess Loriana was standing, across the room. Behind her was her ever present guardian. She was leaning back a little, listening to something Lord Gerhund said in her ear. It struck Loki how familiar those two acted around each other, something about it told him the princess probably wasn't too keen on marrying the prince of Asgard. Loki spotted Gervais standing a little behind the Elvish lord, maybe his squire would know more about it.

Getting married off was one thing, but getting married off to someone who was in love with another person was even worse. Maybe he and Loriana could look each other in the eye on that part, Loki realised when he thought back to last night.

The sound of trumpets brought him back to the present, to the fact that this was not his coronation. He had proved himself more than capable to rule, showing more interest in state business than Thor. However, it was his brawny warrior brother that was slowly making his way into the throne room, kneeling in front of the steps to the throne. Loki looked over to his mother, who was gazing lovingly at her eldest son. Even Odin had somewhat of a smile on his face, a look that was never reserved for his youngest son, no matter how hard he worked for it. The knot in his stomach twisted another couple of times and his whole body was tense. Loki zoned out of what was happening, fixing his gaze on the little wings on Thor's helmet, a fake smile plastered on his face.

Suddenly the doors to the throne room were pushed open and one of the Einherjar rushed over to the steps to the throne to fall on one knee, beside a startled Thor who was in the middle of saying his pledge. "Sire, the vault has been breached!" the guard called out breathlessly. Odin rose to his feet, same as Thor, to hear what the guard had to say.

All around the throne room people were whispering urgently to each other. Loki beckoned for some Einherjar to get closer to his mother and made his way over to the Allfather and Thor. Lord Hergund did the same from the other side, leaving the princess with her two other guardians and his new squire. A breach in the vault was easy to contain, so Loki wasn't too worried. "Frost Giants," he heard the guard say. "The Destroyer has killed some of them, but there are a few that have escaped."

"How many?!" Odin demanded to know.

"Five or six, my King."

Loki sucked in his breath. Six Frost Giants was more than he expected.

"There are Frost Giants on the loose in the palace?!" Thor held out his hand and a whooshing noise could be heard before Mjölnir flew in through the open doors, into Thor's hand. "Let's get them!"

Thor stormed out of the room, followed by half of the Einherjar that were present in the throne room. Odin bellowed his orders to the remaining guards and urged the guests to stay in the throne room, before he followed his son. "I'll stay here, protect the princess," Lord Hergund announced, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Loki had already turned around, looking for his new squire. When he saw Brent he grabbed him by the arm. "You, find your sister and stay with her. Go to my rooms," he said in an urgent voice. The young man nodded fervently and ran off to find his sibling. Loki then turned to his mother, pleased to see at least four Einherjar close around her. Frigga had a thoughtful look on her face when he approached her. "Don't you have your priorities mixed up, my son?" she said quietly. "Shouldn't you be more worried about the princess than a servant?"

"The princess has her own guardians, mother," Loki said impatiently. "She is sufficiently protected and so are you. I'll see you later."

A green mist engulfed him and a few seconds later he fell in stride with Thor, Odin and the Einherjar, close to the vault. Odin went inside the vault with some guards, and soon it was clear there was no more battle to be done there. The Destroyer had sufficiently taken care of the intruders, the dead bodies of four Jotuns laying on the ground. Unfortunately, two Einherjar had lost their lives too.

"Find the other six," Odin ordered and his sons split up, each followed by a small band of Einherjar.


	6. Not my blood

Loki soon discovered the first two Jotuns, in a long hallway that led to the armory. To his advantage the Frost Giants had not yet discovered them. The prince signaled the Einherjar with him and disappeared in a green mist. He popped up at the other side of the hallway, stopping the Jotuns in their advance. The Einherjar made use of the confusement by attacking the Frost Giants from the back. The first was killed quickly, the second was closer to Loki so he faced him alone. Using his magic again, he made the Jotun charge at thin air before slashing him across the arm with his dagger. The cut was deep and the Frost Giant staggered into the wall. Loki advanced a second time, this time aiming for the creature's throat. But the Jotun was quicker and spun out of the way, pushing himself off from the wall. Loki got ready to attack the intruder again, driving him back to the Einherjar. Seeing he was cornered, the Frost Giant leapt forward, swinging his ice sword at Loki. The sword sliced right through the illusion before Loki brought his dagger down in the blue neck. Blood sprayed across his arm and chest as the Jotun tumbled to the ground.

"My Lord, they are upstairs!" cried one of the Einherjar, who was positioned near an open stairway a little down the hall. When Loki got closer he could hear the sounds of battle from the floor above them. With a shock the prince realised the battle took place in the wing where his rooms were, as well as Thor's and the main guest rooms. He ran upstairs in a couple of large bounds and immediately found himself in the middle of a skirmish between two Einherjar and a Frost Giant. Using the element of surprise he could stab the Jotun in his abdomen, but the giant managed to graze the prince his cheek with his ice sword in return. Loki lashed out with his dagger again, making a deep cut in the intruder's upper arm, after which a guard speared the blue giant to the wall.

Behind Loki were the chambers for their Alfheim guests, but he knew them safe in the throne room. A little down the hall, where Thor and two Einherjar were fighting two Frost Giants, were the doors to his chambers and those of his brother. Thor finished off one of the Jotuns with a devastating blow of his hammer, while the Einherjar had their hands full with a second Frost Giant. Loki grabbed the spear the Einherjar next to him carried and threw it at the Jotun. It penetrated him a little lower than Loki had anticipated, but the spear in his thigh incapacitated the Jotun enough to be finished off quickly by the blows of the Einherjar's swords. The guards that were with Loki pushed forward to the scene.

Loki counted three dead Frost Giants, that made five with the two on the floor below them. His chest heaving he took a moment to catch his breath, trying to figure out if they had killed all of the intruders by now.

"Loki!" Thor bellowed suddenly and in the split second that it took Loki to jump to the side and for Thor to throw his hammer, Loki felt a sharp pain across his back. He stumbled and rolled to the ground, turning in his fall so he could see his attacker. The Frost Giant took a hit to the shoulder from Mjölnir and crashed into the wall opposite from Loki. The Jotun must have come up the stairway, just like Loki and the guards.

The prince was quick to his feet, the ceremonial armour seemed to have protected him from most of the blow. His cape was hanging by a thread, so he ripped it off. There was a sharp pain across his back, right below his shoulders, but it was probably just a cut, nothing more. A dagger in each hand, he crouched a little to jump at his attacker as soon as he got an opening.

The Frost Giant had a large spiky sword of ice attached to his right arm, and a second one was forming on his left. However, being hit by Mjölnir left it's damage and he couldn't lift his left arm properly. From the corner of his eye Loki could see the door to his room opening, behind Thor's back. His brother just caught Mjölnir in his hand again, when Brent stepped out, a bow and arrow in his hands.   
Loki focussed on the Jotun in front of him, making sure he got his full attention. "I'm gonna make you bleed," he spat at the Frost Giant, who roared in reply. But at the moment the giant raised his sword, his head jolted to the side from the impact of an arrow in his throat. The Jotun stumbled and Loki jumped at him, driving his dagger into the blue chest. Panting, he slit the throat of the intruder, just as Odin and three other Einherjar came running down the hall.

"I think we've got them all," the Allfather said, surveying the situation before him.

Loki nodded, too much out of breath to answer. His squire ran up to him. "My Lord, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

The prince shook off his helping hand and stood up straight again. He groaned a little when the pain shot across his back, but told the young man he was alright anyway. "Nice shot," he said to his squire. "You sure know how to aim."

"Thank you, my Lord. Glad I could be of assistance."

Despite the pain Loki laughed at Brent's answer. Thor slapped the young archer at the back. "Nice shot, indeed!" He turned to Loki and advised him to go see the healer. "That was a nasty cut, could have been way worse."

"Yes, thank you, brother." Loki shook Thor's hand, after all, his brother had saved him.

Odin ordered the Einherjar to search the whole palace, even though it seemed they had killed all the intruders. He looked over his sons, both covered in Jotun blood. "Get yourselves cleaned up. I'll meet you in the vault in an hour."

"Go check up on the princess and the other Alfheim guests," Loki told Brent. "Ask Gervais to come see me, if he's not needed by the princess or Lord Hergund."

"Will do, my Lord," the squire replied and made off to the throne room, leaping over the dead body of a Jotun in his way.

Loki opened the door to his chambers and stepped through, leaning against the door as soon as he closed it behind him. He took off the helmet and ran a hand through his hair, letting out a deep breath.

"My Lord! You're hurt!" As if out of nowhere Mirilya was standing before him, putting her hand to his face to touch the small cut on his cheekbone. "All this blood..." she gasped, looking him up and down, yet not removing her hand from his face.

"It's not my blood," he said, enclosing her wrist with his hand, putting her fingers to his lips shortly.

Her eyes locked on his and she softly ran her thumb across his cheek. "I'll draw you a bath. Let's get you cleaned up."

Loki slowly lowered himself in the hot water of the tub. He gritted his teeth when the cut on his back touched the water. The small cut on his cheekbone was easily healed with his magic, but before he could heal the wound on his back, it had to be cleaned first. 

"May I, my Lord?" Mirilya asked, coming up to the bath with a sponge in her hands. In response, he turned his back to her. She perched on the edge of the tub and dipped the sponge in the water, to clean out the wound with careful movements. The water turned red from his blood. "The cut is long and quite deep at one side, my Lord. I think you need the healer."

"I'll go see Lady Eir later," he said and pulled the plug from the bath to drain all the bloodied water. At his request Mirilya used a few buckets of cold water to rinse him off, carefully keeping her eyes away from his naked body.

She only looked at him again after he put a towel around his waist. "That cut needs bandaging, my Lord."

"Well, then get to it," he replied, pointing to the cabinet where she could find some medical supplies.

Mirilya bandaged the wound expertly, fastening the winds at the side of his chest. "There, all done," she said, putting the palm of her hand over her work. 

Loki took her hand and turned to her, cradling her hand against his chest. She smiled nervously, but her eyes held his without looking away. He would love to kiss her, yet his mind was racing with all the things that were happening right now. The Jotun attack, the arranged marriage, the princess and her guardian, his brother nearly king of Asgard. Should he add an affair with a servant to that list? Not even just a servant, but the handmaiden and friend of the woman he was supposed to marry.

Loki stared into the golden eyes of the Lightelf before him, losing himself in their depths. He laced his fingers through hers against his chest and when she parted her lips just a little to let out a soft sigh, it was his undoing. With his free hand he cupped her cheek, slowly closing the distance between them until his lips touched hers. Without hesitation she kissed him back, her lips warm and sweet against his. He slipped his arms around her, pulling her against him. The taste of her lips and the warmth of her body under his hands made Loki wish he could hide away from the world. Just him and her, nothing else.  
When kissing left them breathless, he pulled away just a little, leaning his forehead against hers. She looked up in his eyes and giggled softly as he smirked.


	7. Lovers

The couple was disturbed by a knock on the door, which made Mirilya jump in his arms. Loki chuckled and gave her a quick kiss before he released her. "To be continued," he said, to which the young woman showed a coy smile. He gently pushed her in the direction of the door so she could open it while he put on some clothes. When he came out of his changing room, buttoning up his tunic, Gervais was waiting for him. The squire quickly glanced from his master to the handmaiden, whose rosy cheeks stood out against her porcelain skin, but said nothing. 

"How's the princess?" Loki asked, barely holding back his grin.

"She's well, my Lord, the battle never reached the throne room. Lord Hergund took her back to her chambers."

"Good," Loki replied, satisfied that the princess was safe.

"My Lord," Gervais said with some hesitation, "I actually wanted to come see you after the coronation. There is something you should know."

"Well, the coronation is over for today and you're here now. Tell me."

The squire looked at the open door to the bathroom, where Mirilya was cleaning up. "I think I should tell you in private, my Lord."

Loki magically shut the door to the bathroom, causing Mirilya to let out a soft shriek, and stepped closer to Gervais. "Tell me. What do you know?"

"It's about the princess and Lord Hergund," he said in a hushed voice. "I... I saw them kiss, my Lord."

Loki took a moment to reflect on Gervais's words. It wasn't a surprise to him, but he had to be sure. "You saw them?"

"Yes, my Lord. Late last night, after dinner. I had already left, but I had forgot something so I came back. When I turned the last corner I saw them, standing before her room."

"Did they see you?"

Gervais shook his head. "I don't think so, my Lord."

Loki thanked his squire and dismissed him, opening the bathroom door with his magic again. Behind it stood a wide eyed Mirilya. "You're not afraid of a little magic, are you?" Loki chuckled as he held out his hand to her.

"No," she said slowly, eyeing him suspiciously as she walked up to him. He smiled at her to reassure her and it wasn't before long that she smiled back.

He took her hand, but held her at an arm's length. "I want to ask you something and I need you to tell me the truth. Will you do that?"

"Yes, my Lord, of course." She looked a little nervous, but maintained eye contact, which made Loki believe she had no intention to lie.

"Lady Loriana is your friend, is she not?"

Mirilya nodded fervently. "She is, we grew up together. My mother was her wet nurse and nanny."

"Then why did you kiss the man your friend is supposed to marry?" Loki asked in a serious tone, looking at her intensely. The young woman gasped at his question and tried to pull her hand away from his, but he didn't let go of her. When he saw her eyes glisten with tears, he realised she was scared of him, afraid of what would happen if she answered. He pulled her closer and put his hand to her cheek again, softly stroking her skin. "I didn't mean to scare you, darling. I'm sorry." She looked at him, fear and doubt still visible in her face, so he put his arms around her, stroking her back until he felt her relax against him.

He led her to his bed and made her sit on the edge before he sat down next to her. "You can tell me anything, Mirilya, I will not get mad at you." He squeezed her hand to reassure her and she nodded slightly.  
"I have a theory and you can tell me whether I'm right or wrong." Mirilya didn't answer, so Loki continued. "You kissed me, because you know Lady Loriana doesn't want me anyway. She already has a lover. Is that true?"

The young woman looked at her hands, still not saying anything. Loki lifted her face with his hand, gently making her look at him. "It's true, isn't it?"

Mirilya stifled a sob and a tear slid down her face. "Not entirely, my Lord," she said quietly. When he lifted his eyebrow quizzically she added: "I kissed you because I followed my heart."

Loki smiled and leaned over to gently kiss her tears away. "I'm glad you did, my darling."

He planted small kisses on her cheek until he reached her lips and she received his caresses eagerly. The kiss was passionate and warm, more loving than Loki had ever experienced before. He never knew there could be so much feelings hidden in one kiss.

"The rest of it is true," Mirilya said softly when they had released each other again.

Loki nodded. "I take it Lord Gerhund is not just her guardian."

"No, he is not. They love each other."

"Do you think Lady Loriana will confide in me if I talk to her? Nobody really wants this marriage, except for the Allfather."

"I'm not sure," said Mirilya, wringing her hands. "There aren't that many people that know about them. They are very secretive."

"I'll think of a way," Loki said, more to himself than to the young woman at his side.  
He brushed her brown curls to the side, revealing her slightly pointed ear, a reminder of her origins. She leaned into his touch, her eyes fixed on his. The way she looked him in the eyes, not shying away, made him hold his breath. She truly had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.

There was another knock on the door, followed by Brent's voice. "My Lord? They are waiting for you."

Loki cursed under his breath. He had to go to the vault, to survey the damage done by the Jotun attack. He called out to Brent he would be there shortly and looked back at his squire's sister before him. "What would your brother say?" he chuckled, laughing out loud when he saw Mirilya's shocked face. He kissed her on the tip of her nose. "Let's just keep it a secret for now, shall we?"

"Yes, my Lord," she answered timidly.

"It's Loki, darling."

"Yes, my Loki," she said, a smirk forming on her face.

After donning his usual leather gear Loki made his way to the vault. Brent was trailing behind him, but Loki ordered his squire to stay outside. In the vault he found his father and brother, who looked up when he entered. "There you are," Odin said impatiently. "You made us wait."

"I'm sorry, my King," Loki answered curtly, noticing how his attribution of their father as king made Thor frown for a second.

The vault was restored to order, the dead bodies and debris cleaned up. "Do we know what they were after?" Loki asked, casually walking through the room. To his left and right were alcoves, each holding an artefact of some sort. To the back of the room stood the Destroyer, a magnificent weapon in the form of a metal giant. Loki stopped in front of a square shaped relic on a short column. The relic looked like some sort of glass box, the glass walls scratched so they looked opaque, protected by a metal structure with curved lines.

"You're looking at it," Odin answered, his eye fixed on the relic in front of Loki. "The Casket of Ancient Winters."

'Well, they sure had their timing right," Loki smirked. "No offence, brother."

Thor scoffed. "When they got in doesn't matter. I'd much rather know how!"

"A portal, obviously," stated Loki, still looking at the Casket. Deep inside it glowed an ominous blue light.

"Heimdall didn't see them coming, so it must have been a secret portal," Odin said, glaring at Loki.

The prince acted like he didn't feel the old man's stare, but the truth was very much like the opposite. He could feel Odin's disapproval in every fiber of his being.

"They killed two of us, we killed ten of them. I say we go to Jotunheim to even the score even further!" Thor called out, his mighty hammer in his hand. "Those Frost Giants should know better than attacking Asgard. Let's destroy them!"

"No!" said Odin loudly and Thor turned to his father in surprise.

"But father, surely we can't let an attack like this go unpunished?"

"I said no," Odin repeated coldly, staring down Thor with his one eye. Loki looked upon his family from the other side of the room, it felt good to see Thor on the receiving side of father's wrath for once.

"If I were king..." bristled Thor, gripping his hammer firmly, as if he was ready to strike. 

"But you're not, are you?!" roared the Allfather. "There is no crown upon your brow. I am still king. And as long as I am, you will do as I say!"

A little while later Thor and Loki were in the sitting room in the West wing of the palace. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three were present too, all listening with worried faces to Thor, who tried to convince them to strike against Jotunheim as fast as possible. 

"But the Allfather forbade it," said Lady Sif. "We can't go against his will."

"I'd prefer not to, but an attack like this can not go unanswered!" Thor threw back.

"True," admitted Fandrall, "yet the wrath of the Allfather is a punishment in itself. I'd much rather stay on his good side."

"Can't we persuade the King?" Lady Sif asked, looking hopefully at Thor.

Loki scoffed. "It's not possible to persuade Odin. His mind is set."

"Then what do you suggest, brother?" asked Thor. "You also think we should punish Laufey and his Frost Giants, right?"

"I do," answered Loki slowly. "But it's dangerous and it could spark a war."

"Not if we wipe 'm out first!" Thor shouted, swinging his fist in the air.

"You can't just barge into Jotunheim and annihilate them all, brother!" Loki urged.

Thor stood up and pointed Mjölnir at Loki's chest from across the room. "This here says I can!"

"At least sleep on it," the prince pleaded with his hot headed brother. "Please. You can't go in unprepared anyway. If you still think a counter attack is the best way after a good night of sleep, I'll support you."

"Alright," Thor agreed. "Tomorrow, we'll send Laufey and his troupe into oblivion!"


	8. Matters of the heart

After leaving Thor and his friends in the West wing, Loki went to visit princess Loriana. She was expecting him, as Mirilya had announced Loki's arrival. Loki had asked his handmaiden to go over to the princess for some girltalk. "Warm her up to me," he had instructed Mirilya earlier. "Surely you can tell her some positive things about me?"

And now Loki found himself looking at the two Alfheim women, one much more beautiful to him than the other. Lord Hergund went to the training grounds with Gervais, so it was just the two ladies. 

"Will you join me for a walk in the garden, my Lady?" Loki asked courteous. "I'm sure the attack of this morning was quite unsettling for you. I want to show you a more beautiful side of Asgard."

To his pleasure, the princess agreed, taking only Mirilya with her to chaperon her. Loki chuckled softly to himself when he thought how the handmaiden was actually the one who needed a chaperon to go out with him.  
Loki turned on the charm, chatting with Lady Loriana about various topics, slowly making her relax in his company. The princess turned out to be quite the botanist, who could teach Loki a thing or two about the various plants and flowers in the palace gardens. 

"My mother would love to spend some time in the greenhouse with you, my Lady," Loki said to Loriana.

"I'm sure I can make some time for the Queen in the upcoming weeks," the princess answered as Loki guided her to a nearby park bench that looked out over a pond. Loki sat down next to her, making sure he sat close, but not too close. He glanced behind him and winked at Mirilya, who had been following them at a discreet distance the whole time.

"Yes, you will be staying here for quite some time, my Lady," Loki said amicially. "You must miss your family, luckily you have Lord Hergund with you to keep you company."

"Yes, he's a good friend," Loriana answered with a smile.

"What does he think about you getting married off to a stranger?" he asked, keeping his tone light as if he were making a joke.

"Strangers are strangers until they meet, my Lord."

"Wise words, my Lady. However, I would really like to know your feelings towards an arranged marriage. And Lord Hergund's, for that mather," Loki pushed a little.

"I can't speak for Lord Hergund. As for me, I respect the Allfather's wishes," the princess said with a serene smile. Loki would have liked to rattle her by the shoulders, but instead he kept a polite and confidential demeanor.

"Don't you want to marry out of love?" he asked softly, leaning forward with his arms on his knees, so he had to look at the princess from the side.

Lady Loriana opened her mouth for an answer, probably as polite and fitting as the others, but reconsidered. She looked closely at his face, studying the emotions she saw there. "I'd love to, my Lord, but that is not always possible," she eventually said quietly.

"Why? Lord Hergund is a high nobleman, isn't he? His rank should be sufficient enough to marry the youngest daughter of a king." His reply shocked the princess and her hand flew up to cover her mouth. When she wanted to get up, Loki gently held her down. "Don't worry princess, your secret is safe with me. I don't mean you any harm. I'd much rather save you from a marriage that kept you away from the man you truly loved." 

Her eyes watered up and Loki magicked a handkerchief out of his pocket, catching the princess a little off guard with the green lights it caused. Seeing her mistress distraught, Mirilya had come closer, kneeling down next to Lady Loriana. She didn't say anything, she just put a hand on her knee, letting her know she was there for support.

"How did you know?" the princess asked when she had pulled herself together again.

"I could see the love between you," Loki said courteously. "The eyes don't lie."

"You are a perceptive man, my Lord."

"Just very observant," Loki replied with a smile, giving the princess a small squeeze in her hand. "But I don't always understand everything. Like why you and Lord Hergund can't marry."

The princess looked down at the handmaiden at her feet with a sad smile. Mirilya gave her an encouraging smile in reply, of course the handmaiden knew the reason already.   
"Lord Hergund has little more than his name and title, my Lord. He comes from an old family, but their riches have dwindled down over the years. He is the last of his name."

"Yet your father trusts him enough to let him be your guardian," Loki remarked.

"Yes, my father holds him in high esteem."

"Then why hasn't he asked for your hand yet?" he asked like it was a puzzle for him. Instead, he knew the answer already: Lord Hergund was proud and thought he couldn't offer the princess the life she deserved. And in his pride, he assumed the king was of the same mind.

"Because he's afraid my father will turn him down," Lady Loriana answered softly.

"Will he?"

"I'm not sure."

"I'm not so sure of it either, my princess. Word is your father loves you enough to not push you into a marriage with me if you don't want to. So my guess is, he also loves you enough to let you follow your heart." Loki watched her eyes start to glow at his words.

"But, the Allfather..." she said, her sad voice trailing off.

"The Allfather will find another use for me, I'm sure," Loki said a little more bitter than he intended to show.

The crunch of heavy boots on the path made them look up. "Speak of the devil," Loki said cheerfully, as they rose from their seat to welcome Lord Hergund.

"My Lady, my Lord," the Lightelf said with a small bow. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"No, you're not. We were just speaking about matters of the heart," Loki answered with a small bow of his own. Lord Hergund looked confused from Loki to his beloved princess, who smiled at him freely.   
Loki turned to the princess and kissed her hand. "My Lady, I'll take my leave now, you are in good company. Please enjoy your stay in Asgard, I for one very much like the company." He looked pointedly at Mirilya, something the princess noticed, just as Loki intended. He said his goodbyes and walked back to the palace, looking back only once to catch Mirilya's gaze.

In his chambers he found Lady Frigga sitting in one of the chairs by the hearth. She was reading and looked up from her book as he entered. "Mother, what a pleasant surprise."

"Come sit with me, please. I want to talk to you."

"You should take Lady Loriana with you to the greenhouse someday, I discovered this afternoon she has a vast knowledge of plants," Loki told his mother when he took the seat next to her.

"You were with the princess?"

"I was. We went for a walk, to talk about love and marriage." Loki chuckled as his mother raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You should be proud of me, mother. I made two people very happy. At least, if they have the heart to follow through."

"I'm not sure I follow," Lady Frigga said slowly, watching her son with suspicion.

"Of course you do, you have an eye for things like this."

The Allmother was silent for a while, mulling over what her son had said, combined with her own knowledge of all things in the palace. Loki poured himself a glass of wine from the pitcher on the small table between them, patiently waiting for his mother to reach her conclusion.

"The princess has lost her heart to someone else," Lady Frigga said slowly and Loki nodded. "I'm guessing that someone is close to her?"

"You could say he never leaves her side," Loki chuckled and took another sip of wine.

"I see. And you encouraged them to continue their relationship?"

"Of course."

"Why would you do that? You are supposed to marry the princess," Lady Frigga said sternly.

"I will not marry a woman who loves another man," Loki stated in a clear voice.

Lady Frigga scoffed. "No, you'd rather pursue her handmaiden."

Loki looked at his mother with a blank face. "One thing has got nothing to do with the other."

The Allmother sighed deeply and shook her head. "What am I going to tell your father?"

"Nothing," Loki shrugged. "He has other things on his mind now anyway. It's nice to have guests in the palace. Let them stay and I'm sure things will work themselves out."

Lady Frigga emptied her glass of wine with one last swig and stood up. "Come with me. The festivities of tonight are cancelled, but we are still to have dinner as a family."


	9. The prince and the handmaiden

After dinner, which was filled with tensed silences, unspoken thoughts and fake pleasantries, Loki was glad to return to his chambers. He tossed his heavy leather coat aside, wearing light pants and a shirt after a green ripple of light passed over his body.   
Lord Hergund had been glaring at him the whole time, Loki guessed the Lord wasn't as easy with his trust as the princess. But he expected Lady Loriana to plead in his favor with her lover, so the angry glares would soon diminish.

Thor had been uncharacteristically silent during dinner, picking his food and also sending out angry glares. But his were aimed at their father, who didn't say a single word during dinner. So it was left to Loki, Lady Frigga and Lady Loriana to keep the conversation going. Once the women found their common ground in discussing the growth of certain herbs, Loki could sit back and finish his dinner in peace.

He found his chambers made ready for the night, a low fire burning in the heart, but Mirilya was nowhere to be seen. Loki thought briefly about going over to her room, across the hall, when he saw two feet dangling over the armrest of one of the large chairs by the fireplace. He silently walked to the chair and discovered a sleeping Mirilya curled up in it. On her chest was the book he gave her earlier. Carefully he took the book away and put it aside. She woke up when he knelt down next to her and kissed her brow.

"Oh! You're here!" she exclaimed, jolting upright. "Did I fall asleep?"

"I believe you did." Loki lifted her from the chair so he could sit in the large chair with the young woman straddling his lap. "This is a nice surprise," he grinned.

"I was waiting for you," she said shyly, her cheeks turning pink again.

Loki leaned over to kiss her, his hands on her hips. She eagerly answered his kisses, putting her arms around his neck. Soft kisses soon turned into heated ones, full of promise for more. Loki slid his hands under her dress, caressing the soft skin of her legs before he firmly grasped her bottom to press her flush against him. She gasped softly when he kissed the soft skin of her throat, trailing down to her cleavage. The young woman gazed deep into his eyes as she slowly unbuttoned the top of her dress for him, exposing her breasts.

"You are divine," Loki breathed against her throat, resuming his exploration of her bared skin with his lips. He felt the heat between her thighs pressed against him as he turned his attention to her breasts. Without words he stood up from the chair, lifting Mirilya up with him and walked swiftly to the bed.

That night she gave herself to him, truly and without holding back. He was mesmerized by her beauty, the softness of her skin and the loving gazes she bestowed upon him. Her willingness to surrender herself to him almost frightened Loki, it gave him the feeling he had to take care of her, protect her at all cost. He didn't know what to protect her from, from himself or from the world, all he knew was that he would do it, no matter what. The girl in his arms had found a way to his heart.

Loki woke up early, like he always did, and brown curls tickled his nose. Mirilya's unruly hair was spread all over the pillow, the young woman still sound asleep. He watched her angelic face, she looked so innocent, free of all the cares in the world. She had made him forget about his cares too, as he made love to her last night. Or as she made love to him, because that was the feeling he got from her, he felt truly loved by her. He closed the small distance between their naked bodies, putting his arm around her, nuzzling the soft skin behind her ear. She made small contented noises before she opened her eyes to look at him.

"Good morning, my love," Loki whispered, nibbling her ear. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mmm, I did," she smiled, wriggling in his arms in an attempt to get even closer. "Shouldn't I be getting you breakfast, my Lord?" she teased, running her finger down his nose to his lips.

"You are my breakfast," Loki growled playfully and rolled himself on top of her, holding himself up by his arms as he kissed her.

It was eventually Loki himself who got them breakfast from the kitchens, although he did ask Mirilya to continue her handmaiden duties. "I'd hate to get another handmaiden, as I have just teached you the ropes," he had jested, planting butterfly kisses on her stomach. She had agreed easily, telling him she didn't mind as it gave her plenty of time to spend with him.

They spent most of the morning in bed, until Loki couldn't put off seeing Thor any longer. "I have to go, my love," he told the woman that lay curled up against his chest.

"Where are you going?"

"Going to play war with my brother," he sighed.

Mirilya sat up in wonder. "Aren't you two a little old to play war?"

"Tell me about it," Loki said, propping himself up on his elbows. "But my brother loves to swing his hammer at bad guys."

"Can't he do that by himself?" Mirilya pouted as a joke, getting up from the bed after another kiss. "When will you be back?"

Loki told her he didn't know that, as he put on his leather gear. "Will you be taking my brother?" she asked, donning her own clothes.

He shook his head. "It's gonna be a stealth mission," he said with a smirk. "So don't tell anyone about it. At least, not right away."

Loki found Thor and the Warriors Three in their usual spot in the West wing of the palace. 

"Did you sleep in after all the action yesterday?" Fandral asked as Loki walked in the room. The dark haired prince ignored that comment and went over to Thor, who was staring out of the window. 

"Well? Are you still planning on confronting Laufey?" he asked his brother.

"Yes. I will demand answers from him. The loss of Asgardian lives should not go unpunished. Are you with me?" Thor looked at him expectantly.

Loki didn't answer immediately, but looked at the Warriors Three and Lady Sif instead. "I take it you guys are coming?"

They all nodded. "We want to avenge the lives of our brothers," Lady Sif said passionately. Loki looked away from her before she would see the disdain on his face. The lady warrior had a soft spot for his brother; even though Thor mostly took her for granted, she would do anything for him. Loki found it below her to follow Thor around like a lapdog, it was unbecoming for the fierce lady warrior.

"You know this is dangerous," Loki said in an urgent voice to Thor and his loyal followers.

Thor scoffed. "Are you afraid?"

"No," Loki said coolly. "I killed some of them yesterday, I can do that again any day of the week. I meant the danger of reigniting the war between Asgard and Jotunheim."

"I'm only doing what the king of Asgard should be doing," Thor answered heatedly. "If it were not for that attack yesterday I would be king now."

Loki put a hand on Thor's shoulder. "I understand, my brother. They've robbed you of your crown. For now, at least."

"Then help me make them pay for it!"

"You know I love you dearly, brother," Loki said to his agitated sibling. "But this is madness."

"Isn't that right up your alley?" Fandral said from the side, a daring smirk on his pretty boy face.

Loki rolled his eyes as his brother and the other warriors got up and made their way to the door. Thor turned back to him. "Are you coming, or not?"

"Already ahead of you," Loki said casually, appearing from a green mist next to Hogun, who was walking up front.

The six of them made their way to the front of the palace and got on their horses. Loki loved to ride and the prospect of the action on Jotunheim excited him even more. Not that he was eager to smash some faces in, but his brother was doing something stupid and Loki loved to have a good seat from which to watch it.

They galloped along the Rainbow Bridge to Heimdall's Observatory, where they found Asgard's ever watching keeper of the portal. "You leave this to me," Loki said with a smile as they got off their horses. He approached Heimdall, meaning to sweet talk the watchman into opening up the Bifrost for them.

"You are not dressed warmly enough," Heimdall said stonily, before Loki could say anything.

"I beg your pardon?" Loki was taken aback by the gatekeepers remark. He wanted to say something else, but he was cut short again. Heimdall declared he knew of their intentions and would only let them pass because he wanted to know how the Jotuns got into Asgard undetected. Of course something like that would piss the gatekeeper off, Loki should have known that.

"What happened? Silver tongue turned to lead?" Volstagg said to Loki as the others walked past Heimdall into the round Observatory. Loki glared angrily at the large warrior's back, but followed them in anyway.

The gatekeeper stepped up to the middle of the dome and put his large sword in the slot in the floor. He warned them his oaths made him put Asgard first. If opening up the Bifrost for their return would put Asgard in jeopardy, he would leave them to die in the cold barren wasteland of Jotunheim.

"I have no plans to die today", Thor said confidently.

"None do," answered Heimdall solemnly and Loki took a deep breath at his words.


	10. Jotunheim

Jotunheim was just as Heimdall had described: a cold barren wasteland. Everything was in ruins. The six warriors had to jump from stone to stone every now and then as they walked up to a high rise structure.   
"Where are they?" asked Lady Sif in a tense voice.

"Hiding." Thor sounded somewhat smug. "As cowards usually do."

Before them was the highest point of the structure, with walls that stretched forward on both sides. A deep voice echoed between the stone walls. "You've come a long way to die, Asgardians." Loki looked up to see the king of Jotunheim watching them from his high seat.

"How did you get into Asgard?" Thor shouted at the king, who looked merely annoyed at their presence.

"The house of Odin is full of traitors," Laufey's deep voice said, his red gaze cold. 

Thor demanded answers, but the Jotun king didn't give him any. Loki looked around wearily, there were Jotuns standing all around them on top of the walls, they had to be careful.

"You long for battle. You crave it," Laufey said to Thor, an underlying anger lacing his voice. "You're nothing but a boy trying to prove himself a man."

As Loki knew it would, that remark rubbed Thor the wrong way. "This boy has grown tired of your mockery," his brother said with arrogance, the same arrogance that would get him killed someday.

Loki didn't want to get killed, not today, which meant he had to reign in his brother. "Thor, stop and think," he said to Thor, grabbing him by the shoulder. "Look around you, we are outnumbered."

But the blond warrior shrugged him off. "Know your place, brother!" 

Loki seethed at his brother's superciliousness, at that moment it was very tempting to just step back and watch what Thor's big mouth would get him. Yet, the dark haired prince would very much like to get home in one piece and the chances for that were bigger if Thor would just take up Laufey's current offer to let them walk away now. 

"We will accept your most gracious offer," Loki said to the Jotun king. "Come on, brother," he urged.

To his relief Thor slowly turned, he must have done the math and come to the conclusion their chances were slim. There were Frost Giants all around them, some of them were slowly coming closer. 

"Run back home, little princess," a bulky Frost Giant said tauntingly to Thor's back.

"Damn..." Loki sighed and conjured up a dagger in each hand as Thor turned on his heels and swung Mjölnir at the insolent Frost Giant's chin. 

The blue giant went flying, with Thor asking cheerily who was next as battle ensued. Loki stepped lightly from stone to stone, using his slender frame in his advantage as the giants attacked him. The Jotuns were formidable opponents, they were big, strong and cunning. And their power to use ice as a weapon was a force to reckon with, you didn't want to get sliced up by the scraggy ice blades that sprouted from their arms and hands.

Loki stood close to a cliff and cleverly made use of his power to create illusions of himself to send a Frost Giant tumbling down into the abyss. Why tire yourself with fighting if you could kill your enemy without breaking a sweat? He overlooked the battlefield to see Lady Sif being overpowered by an exceptionally large Jotun and threw a dagger to eliminate the giant. The Warriors Three stood their ground, but none of them made as many victims as Thor did. The firstborn son of Odin truly lived up to his reputation, taking out Frost Giants all around him with his mighty hammer. In between swings he still found the time to taunt his opponents, declaring they weren't much of a challenge for him. Loki chuckled when Thor imitated the roar of an angry Frost Giant before knocking him out cold with his hammer. The blond warrior wasn't fit to rule from a throne, but on the battlefield he had no equal. Loki would be one of the first to admit that, quietly, from behind his hand.

"Don't let them touch you!" sounded a warning call across the rocky grounds. 

Loki saw Volstagg clutching his forearm, where it was touched by a Frost Giant. But he didn't have much time to worry about it, as there were still Jotuns coming at them from all directions. The dark haired prince killed two Jotuns and stabbed a third, as his opponent grabbed him by the wrist. His icy grip made Loki's leather armour freeze up and crumble beneath his touch. Loki looked on in shock when his skin was exposed, expecting it to be painful. But to his surprise it didn't hurt at all, no, it was something else that horrified him. The skin on his lower arm and hand slowly turned pale blue, the same colour as the Jotun hand that gripped his wrist. Loki looked up to the Jotuns face, seeing a mix of surprise and understanding in the giants red eyes. He quickly stabbed the Frost Giant again, killing him this time so he could get away from his touch.

Loki's attention was soon needed on staying alive again, as there were more and more Frost Giants joining the fight. The six Asgardians fought hard, but they were outnumbered. Fandral was the first to get seriously hurt, as spikes of ice suddenly shot up from the ground, piercing his shoulder. His fellow warriors quickly lifted him up and Loki yelled they must go. Thor on the other hand, stepped up his game, swinging his hammer even harder. He hit multiple Jotuns in one go, the big giants falling down like trees under an axe.

Thor's ruckus shook the realm, making the ice crack. It woke up a Jotunheim Beast from its slumber in the ice, or did it wake on Laufey's call? One way or another, Loki was shocked to see the Beast emerging from the ice. Thor was busy fighting off his enemies, calling for lightning as he smashed his hammer to the ground. A mighty shockwave ran through the rocks and everything started to collapse. The retreating Warriors Three, Lady Sif and Loki had to jump to prevent from falling in sudden gaps in the ground. Thor followed a little behind, as did the Beast, but only the blond warrior made it across the gaps. They saw the Beast disappear when the ground beneath its paws opened and swallowed him whole.

The Asgardians were now cornered, a deep abyss behind their backs and Laufey's army in front of them. Loki's mind was racing, searching for a way out, as a roar made everyone look up. The Beast emerged from the abyss, pulling itself upright on its hind legs. It roared another time, its mouth open wide, as something red flashed through the air, leaving the monster with a gaping hole in the back of its head. It fell again, this time with no hope for return. There was no time to rejoice, because hundreds of Jotuns were closing in on the Asgardians.

Loki was getting more worried by the second, things were looking bleak. Because he was as tense as a knocked arrow, Loki jumped when the sky suddenly cracked open and the rainbow lights of the Bifrost pierced through. A large figure appeared, riding an eight-legged horse. Loki never thought he would be this happy to see Odin and Sleipnir.

"Father! We'll finish them together!" Thor shouted, pumping his hammer in the air.

"Silence!" The Allfather wasn't pleased, to say the least.

Loki watched as Odin and Laufey saw face to face. 

"Allfather. You look weary," the Jotun king said. Odin didn't answer, he just stared at the other. "Your boy sought this out," Laufey told the Allfather.

"You are right. These are the actions of a boy, treat them as such," Odin answered, proposing they would maintain the longstanding truce between Jotunheim and Asgard. Loki didn't think that would get him far with the provoked Jotun king.

"We are beyond diplomacy now," Laufey sneered. "He'll get what he came here for: war and death!"

"So be it," Odin replied in an even voice. Loki sucked in his breath as he saw Laufey form an ice dagger, hidden in his hand. But the Allfather foresaw his actions and sent the Jotun king flying with a burst of power from his staff Gungnir.

The Bifrost opened up again and took the seven Asgardians home.


	11. Cast out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Trigger warning!! Sexual violence. Read with caution.

When the Bifrost brought them safely to Heimdall's Observatory, the Allfather was seething. He ordered to get Fandrall to the healer immediately, leaving him with Loki and Thor. Loki looked at Thor. His sibling was still filled with the adrenalin of the battle and he surely didn't appreciate the way their father handled the situation. 

"The old ways are done!" the blond warrior yelled at the Allfather.

"You are a vain, greedy, cruel boy!" Odin spat back, every bit as angry as his oldest son.

"You are an old man and a fool!" Thor was not handling this that well and Loki decided to intervene.

"Father," he started, but he was cut off immediately.

"I'll deal with you later!" the Allfather shouted angrily. "One son is bringing war to Asgard, the other is bedding his maid. I will not have this!" 

Loki snorted and wanted to tell Odin it was none of his business who was in his son's bed, but he got an angry primal scream in response.

Odin turned to Thor, speaking every word very clearly. "You are unworthy of these realms. You are unworthy of the loved ones you have betrayed! I now take from you your power. In the name of my father and his father before him, I, Odin Allfather, cast you out!"

Loki was shocked to see Thor getting stripped of his powers, his armour with it. Mjölnir flew to Odin's hand and Thor was hurled into the Bifrost. This was more extreme than any reaction Loki had expected of the Allfather. 

Odin put the hammer up to his lips and whispered: "Whoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, he shall possess the power." Before Loki could do or say anything, the hammer was thrown in the Bifrost too.

Odin started to leave for the palace, turning back to Loki after he got on Sleipnir. "I never want you to use one of your hussies as a messenger ever again," he hissed and spurred the eight-legged horse to gallop back to the palace.

Loki watched the Allfather leave, hating him with every fiber of his being. Yet, the old man had done him a favor: Thor was not getting on the throne anytime soon now, if he was ever coming back to Asgard at all. 

The dark haired prince turned to the silent gatekeeper. "Heimdall, where did he sent Thor?"

"Midgard."

"Of course..." Loki rolled his eyes. Even in banishment Thor got lucky.

Loki found Lady Sif and the Warriors Three rightfully agitated in their common room. The healers had done their work on Fandral and he was pacing the room. "Odin knew. Someone sent him a messenger!"

"I sent my handmaiden to inform Odin of Thor's plan," Loki stated flatly as everyone turned to him in surprise. "I saved our lives. I didn't know he would banish Thor for this."

Lady Sif wagged her finger at him accusingly. "You have to undo this! We have to get Thor back!"

Loki stared at her angrily. "He was acting arrogant, reckless, dangerous. Is that what Asgard needs from its king?! Let him stay on Midgard, he might learn something! Asgard doesn't need him now, not like this." He turned back to leave for the door, letting an illusion leave the room before he truly left himself.

Lady Sif turned back to her warrior friends. "He may speak of the good of Asgard, but he has always been jealous of Thor!"

"He saved us," Volstagg brought up in defense.

Hogun shook his head. "You heard Laufey: there is a traitor here. A master of magic could have brought three Jotuns in Asgard."

Fandral scoffed. "He is the God of Mischief, but now you're talking about something else entirely!"

Loki wandered the halls of the palace for hours, not really taking notice of where he was going. He ended up in the cellars, pacing the dark, damp hallways for most of the time. The image of his arm and hand turning blue under the Jotuns touch kept replaying in his mind. He had always felt different from his brother, but now it seemed he truly was different. But in what sense? Was he cursed? Why didn't the touch of the Frost Giant have the same effect on him as it had on Volstagg? Loki couldn't wrap his mind around it and it was getting harder and harder to think rational. His primal feelings were taking over and they weren't good. By the time Loki reached his rooms, subconsciously having wandered back to the most familiar part of the palace, he was filled with rage, pain and self loathing.

It was dark and the palace was silent, most people had gone to bed already. In his dim room he came across a mirror and instead of himself he saw the face of the Jotun who had grabbed him. Loki roared and hit the mirror, shattering it and ripping it of the wall. He threw the frame across the room, taking down a vase with flowers with it. Pushed over the edge by the damage he was creating, Loki screamed again and slammed a chair into the wall.

"Loki?" Mirilya was standing in the doorway, wide eyed and dressed only in her thin night shift. Loki didn't react to her, he gripped the edge of the mantle, breathing raggedly. He heard the door close and the sound of her bare feet across the wooden floor. She laid one hand on his back, the other on his arm, trying to make him turn to her. "Loki? What happened? What is wrong?"

He snorted and pushed her hands away, still not looking at her. But Mirilya didn't give up that easily and touched him again, this time on his wrist, where the Jotun's frosty touch had crumbled the leather arm piece. He snapped his head in her direction, grabbing her wrists with his hands and holding them up between them. 

"Loki? What is the matter with you?" she pleaded, her face worried.

Loki stared into the golden eyes that tried to make him say something, to explain what was going on with him. But he couldn't, there was too much rage inside him, too much pain, too much of everything. Instead, he shifted his gaze to her face, to the barely visible freckles around her nose, down to the soft skin of her neck and the delicate lines of her clavicles. She was beautiful, even in her insecurity. She was looking at him like a deer that spotted the hunter, standing perfectly still in his grasp. Only her chest was heaving, the thin fabric of her night shift almost transparent in the light of the fire. 

There was another feeling growing inside of him, a different outlet to his anger, as he explored the curves of her body visible under her night shift with his eyes. Mirilya gasped as he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against him, roughly placing his lips upon hers. He didn't notice her pushing against his chest with her hands when he held her head in place with his hand on the nape of her neck. With his other hand he pulled her shift up so he could reach underneath. His tongue took possession of her mouth, drowning out her pleas to make him stop.

Still holding her firmly against him, he made her walk backwards until they bumped into his writing desk. He lifted her on the desk and pushed his things to the side so he could lay her down. 

"Loki, please, slow down," Mirilya managed to say before he cut her off as he roughly pulled her shift over her head. 

He pushed her legs open with his hips, standing in between them. With a smirk he let his hands wander over her naked body, holding her still when she wriggled to get up. Loki leaned over her to kiss her again, a little gentler this time and after a few seconds she responded to his kiss. This heated him even more and he let his hand trail down her body until he reached the soft spot between her legs. She gasped and whimpered against his lips when he pushed his finger inside her, not quite ready for him to do that. Kneading her full breasts with his other hand, he put his mouth to her neck, sucking the soft skin just above her clavicle. 

Mirilya tried to guide his attention back to kissing, pulling a little on his shoulders, but Loki's heart was far away at this point. He wasn't thinking, he was acting purely on raw instinct, reacting to the soft rosy flesh underneath him. In one swift movement Loki pulled down his pants and thrust himself inside Mirilya, causing her to groan in pain. Loki didn't register how she hid her face with her arms when he grabbed her thighs and took her for his own pleasure.

After he spilled his seed in her, panting from the short but intense exercise, he collapsed on top of the young woman. With his head resting on her chest, he softly stroked the side of her body with his hand. Mirilya trembled underneath him, sobbing softly. It took Loki a few minutes to clear his head, before he became aware of what happened. His eyes shot open in horror when he realised Mirilya was crying. He pushed upright, disgusted with himself. 

As soon as he was off her, the young woman curled up into a ball on top of the writing desk, her whole body shaking. Loki stared at her for a few seconds, not knowing what to say or do. Then he gently picked her up and carried her to his bed, tucking her in under the soft blankets. She was still crying and didn't look at him as he sat down at the edge of the bed. 

"I am so sorry," he whispered in a strained voice. "There is no excuse, I did something horrible to you."

He tried to brush the hair from her face, but she cringed under his touch. Loki thought his heart would break. "I am so sorry," he said again, his voice thick. A tear slid down his face. "I love you, Mirilya. I never meant to hurt you."

Loki stayed by her side, whispering he was sorry and that he loved her over and over again, but without touching her. His insides felt like ice, reminding him of the Frost Giants he fought earlier this day. He felt as monstrous as they were. After what felt like the longest time Mirilya stopped trembling and her breathing became more regular. 

"I'll fill up the tub so you can take a bath, ok?" Loki proposed softly, relieved when she gave a small nod in reply.

When the bathtub was full, Mirilya already stood in the door to the bathroom, a sheet from the bed wrapped around her body. Loki wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms, to kiss all the pain away, but he knew he couldn't, because he was the one who hurt her. Instead, he made sure he kept his distance as she walked over to the bath. 

"Do you want me to go?" he asked silently, keeping his eyes on the floor as she stepped in the tub.

"No." Her voice was barely more than a whisper, but the message went straight to Loki's heart. Relief washed over him and he fell on his knees, crying with his face in his hands.


	12. The king

Loki only dozed in shortly before dawn. He had watched the sleeping form of Mirilya the whole night, loathing himself deeply for what he had done to her.  
After refilling the tub twice with hot water, she had allowed him to wrap her in a big soft towel and rub her dry. Dressed in one of his shirts she had crawled into his bed again, with Loki next to her on top of the blankets. He had kept a small distance between them and for a while they just looked at each other. When she had asked again what happened that day, he had told her about Jotunheim and the Frost Giants touch. 

"What does it mean?" was her question, only her nose and eyes visible above the blanket, encircled by her brown curls.

"I don't know," Loki had answered and they were both silent after that.

As she laced her fingers through his, part of Loki felt joy, because it looked like the woman he loved was able to forgive him for what he had done to her. But he couldn't forgive himself and he was still awake long after she fell asleep.

When Loki woke up after sleeping for only an hour or two, Mirilya was still asleep. Careful not to wake her, he silently got out of bed and went to the kitchens to get them breakfast. He put it on the table by the window and sat down, but he wasn't able to get anything down his throat. He needed answers. He couldn't let what happened on Jotunheim get between him and Mirilya. He couldn't let anger cloud his mind again when he was near her.

Inside Odin's vault he found the Casket of Ancient Winters, giving off the same eerie blue light as always. Loki walked up to the Casket, feeling drawn to it despite his revulsion. Slowly he put his hands on the sides of the Casket, cold dread filling his whole being when he saw his hands turn blue again. He could feel the change creep up over his whole body and every hair stood up.

Without looking he knew Odin was standing behind him. "Am I cursed?" Loki asked.

"No."

Loki turned to the Allfather, looking like a Jotun in Asgardian garments. "Then what am I?"

"You are my son," the Allfather said, seemingly unfazed by his son's new look.

"What more am I?" Loki asked, anger building up inside him. He took a step closer to Odin. "The Casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day, was it?" He could feel his skin return to normal as he walked further away from the Casket and came closer to Odin.

"No," Odin said slowly. "In the aftermath of the battle I found a baby in the temple. Small, for a Giant's offspring. Laufey's son."

Loki sharply sucked in his breath. "Laufey's son." He was the son of the Frost Giant's king. That barren wasteland was his homeland.   
"Why?!" He directed his anger at Odin, the Allfather, but not his father. "You were knee deep in Jotun blood. Why would you take me?"

"You were just an innocent child."

Loki shook his head. "You took me for a purpose. What was it?"  
"Tell me!!" he screamed when the Allfather didn't answer right away. 

But the answer the Allfather gave only angered Loki more. Odin had hoped that Laufey's son could help to turn the unstable truce into peace.

"So I am no more than a stolen relic, locked up until you have use of me," Loki seethed. "You raised me as your son, raised me as a prince. Yet you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard!"   
Loki stalked forward, making Odin step back a little. However, that little victory did nothing for the pain he felt inside. "I am the monster parents tell their kids about at night..." Loki fell silent at the thought. He was a monster.

Loki tried to compose himself. He couldn't fall apart in front of Odin, not now, not ever. "But I guess you found some other use for me now," he said in a sly voice, slowly advancing on Odin. "What would King Vonhir say if he found out you want his daughter to marry a Jotun?"

He noticed the Allfather hardened himself again. "You could have a beautiful, intelligent bride, a princess," Odin said coldly. "Yet you chose to bed a girl far below your station and throw away the future I set out for you!"

"At least she loves me!" Loki shouted at the man that he had believed to be his father for so long. "That's more than I could ever say from you!"

Odin stumbled back against the stairway into the vault and fell down on the steps. Loki towered over him, his face contorted with anger. "You lied to me from day one. My whole life was a lie!"

The Allfather tried to get up, leaning on his staff, but he was powerless. He slumped back against the stairs and lost consciousness. Confused, Loki stood over him, looking from his hands to Odin. Surely he didn't do anything? Or did he? No, he was certain he didn't use his powers on the Allfather, this was something else. 

"Guards?!" he called out. "Help! Guards!"

The unconscious Odin was brought to his chambers, healers rushing to his side. Loki watched them work on his father, leaning back against the wall of the room. Despite all his anger, deep down he was still a little worried about the Allfather. When his mother rushed into the room and found out her husband was in Odinsleep, she fell in Loki's arms and cried against his shoulder. The healers left them alone in the room, but the head of the Einherjar stayed behind, the staff Gungnir in his hand. When Lady Frigga had let go of Loki and taken a seat next to the bed, the guard walked up to Loki. He held the staff horizontally in both hands and presented it to him.

"The burden of the throne falls to you now, my son," his mother said softly, when Loki just stood there, staring at the golden staff in the guard's hands.

"Please, my King," the guard said and bowed his head.

Slowly Loki took Gungnir from the hands of the Einherjar, weighing the staff in his hands before he planted it on the floor and stood up straight. 

He was Loki, king of Asgard.

When the guard had left, Loki took a seat to the other side of the bed. He watched Odin sleep, the translucent gold screen hovering above the Allfather to protect and to monitor him.

"I'm worried," Lady Frigga said in a soft voice, stroking Odin's arm.

"When will he wake up again?" Loki asked. In the back of his head was the real question: for how long will I be king?

"I don't know," came the answer. "He put it off for too long... we were unprepared."

"Why did he lie to me?" It was a harsh question at this moment, but he wanted to know. His mother may not be his real mother, but he trusted her, he loved her, as she loved him.

"He kept the truth from you because he didn't want you to feel different," Lady Frigga answered gently.

"Oh, but I am different," Loki scoffed.

"You are our son, Loki," his mother said, looking at him intensely. 

He knew she really believed that, problem was, it just wasn't true. He was Laufey's son. The son of a Frost Giant. He was a Frost Giant. Everything else was a lie.

Loki stood in front of the steps to the throne. He had been standing there for a while now, twisting the staff in his hand. He was king now, king of Asgard. With Thor gone, he was the heir to the throne. Somehow this was a lot like he imagined he would ascend to the throne, knowing Thor was the oldest of them two. Yet, Loki was reluctant to walk up those steps and take the seat that belonged to him now. It felt wrong to have a Jotun sitting on that throne.

"It's your place, my son. The throne of Asgard is yours now." Loki held his breath for a moment when he heard his mother's voice behind him.

He answered without turning around. "The throne belongs to Asgard, not to a Jotun."

"You are our son, Loki. With your father in Odinsleep, you are the heir to his throne." Lady Frigga walked up to her son and put her hand on his arm. He covered hers with his free hand and they stood like that for a while, watching the gold throne.

Eventually, Loki gently pulled her hand away and ascended the steps to the throne, conjuring up his full regalia. He took a deep breath and sat down, overlooking the throne room. He was Loki, king of Asgard.

Hurried footsteps approached the throne. Lady Sif was the first to reach the front of the steps. "Allfather! We must speak with you urgently!" she said, before stopping in her tracks.

"My friends," Loki said in an even voice, slightly amused by the shocked looks on the faces of Lady Sif and the Warriors Three.

"Where's Odin?" Lady Sif demanded to know.

"Odin has fallen into Odinsleep. Mother fears he might not wake up again. You can bring your urgent matter to me," Loki told them, getting up from the throne. "Your king."

Volstagg was the first to cross his fist to his heart in a salute. The others followed, Lady Sif last. Loki took in the defiant look on her face, the female warrior had never been a fan of him and he could understand why she didn't like to see the God of Mischief as the new king of Asgard. 

As he expected, Lady Sif and the warriors asked him to bring Thor back from exile. "My first command can not be to undo father's last," Loki told them. "We're on the brink of war with Jotunheim. People need a sense of continuity, to feel safe."

"And you are that continuity? Please!" Lady Sif scoffed, taking a step forward to the throne in a challenging manner.

Loki suppressed a chuckle, she was so predictable. "May I remind you you are speaking to your king?" His comment only agitated her further, but Fandral grabbed her arm and pulled her back, hissing something to her.  
"Preventing a full on war with Jotunheim is my first priority, my friends," Loki said. "Heimdall is keeping an eye on Thor, he'll be fine on Midgard," he added soothingly, his lips curving into a smirk.


	13. If you'll have me

After the Warriors Three and Lady Sif had left, Loki hurried back to his chambers. He gave the Einherjar the command he was not to be disturbed. Mirilya sat in one of the chairs by the fire, reading the book he gave her. She was almost finished with it, just a couple of pages left until the end. She was wearing one of her own dresses and had braided her hair. Loki took that as a good sign, he had been afraid she might not want to get out of bed at all.

She looked up when he changed his ceremonial armour to something more casual. "That's Odin's staff," she said surprised. "So it's true!"

Loki nodded and put the staff up against the wall next to the hearth. Now that he thought of it, he had no idea what Odin did with the staff when he wasn't holding it. It was not like with Mjölnir that you had to be worthy to be able to pick it up, anyone could hold it. To be able to use it's powers, that required a different set of skills. With his mind on trivial things like what to do with Gungnir, he turned to Mirilya. 

He was shocked to see her stand up and bow for him. "My king," she said, inclining her head.

In two steps he was in front of her, gently holding her by her shoulders to make her stand up straight again. "You don't have to do that, ever."

He let go of her immediately and took a step back, the memories of last night still fresh. She held his hand last night in bed, but he didn't want to push her into anything she didn't want. Never again.   
"I am so, so sorry," he told her, barely able to look her in the eyes. "I am ashamed for my behaviour. There is no excuse for what I've done to you." All the feelings from last night washed over him again, making him shudder. "I can't understand why you're still here," he said, his voice breaking. "I hurt you, you have every right to leave me."

He fell on his knees to the floor, not being able to hold up the facade any longer. Everything that happened in the past few days was too much. He had found love, but ruined it. He always knew he was different, but he had not expected to be thát different from everybody else on Asgard. And now he was responsible to keep the realm safe, a heavy burden with the current threat of war. Hot tears filled his eyes and he couldn't hold them back. Loki broke down, quietly wailing into his hands.

Soft warm hands pried his fingers away from his face. Mirilya sat on the floor before him and gently wiped his tears away. Loki couldn't believe the look of tenderness he saw in her eyes, but it was there, her golden eyes glistening with tears. She held her hand against his cheek and he covered her hand with his own, pulling strength from her touch. 

"I don't deserve you," he said shakily.

Mirilya didn't answer, but a small smile formed on her lips. Loki put her hand to his lips and softly kissed the tips of her fingers. "You mean everything to me. I vow to never hurt you again. My heart belongs to you, my love," he told her, speaking from the heart. "If you'll have me," he added, his voice unsure.

Loki thought his heart would burst when she leaned in and placed her soft lips upon his. "I love you," she breathed before she kissed him.

Loki sat on the floor in front of the fire, his back leaning against the chair. Mirilya leaned against his chest and he nuzzled her hair, holding her close to him. He had explained to her what happened yesterday and today. Everything, from Thor's banishment and discovering to be Laufey's son, to ascending the throne of Asgard. It felt good to talk about it, but he had been scared of how she might react. She had listened to it in silence, only asking a short question every now and then when she needed some clarification. When he told her of his Jotun descent, he expected her to be put off, yet she only grabbed his hands tighter, making sure he didn't loosen his embrace.

"I'm a monster," he said softly, hiding his face in her hair.

"Everybody has a monster inside of them," Mirilya answered gently. "Some are just better at hiding it than others." She turned in his arms to face him. "You were angry and in pain, you were not yourself. I know you're a good man, Loki, and you'll be a good king too."

Her kiss was soft and sweet, when she pulled back Loki held his eyes closed to savour the taste of her lips a little longer. "I don't deserve you," he whispered, looking into her golden eyes again.

"Every person deserves love," she whispered back. "And you have mine."

"I love you so much," Loki said, leaning his forehead against hers. "You are my queen."

Loki didn't want to leave Mirilya, but he had to if he wanted to make sure she got everything she deserved. He got on his horse and rode down the Rainbow Bridge to Heimdall's Observatory. 

Send me to Midgard," he ordered the gatekeeper. "I want to visit my brother to tell him about father."

Heimdall gazed into the distance, no doubt watching Thor. "Thor is being held captive at the moment."

Loki shrugged and lined up before the portal. "I don't think those mortals will be a problem for me."

Loki shrouded himself with magic and made his way into the white facility that was put up in the middle of a desert. It had been a while since he had travelled to Midgard. In the old days, the people understood their gods came to visit, but now they didn't believe in anything anymore and wanted to know every last detail of things they didn't understand. How naive of them, when there was too much for their tiny brains to comprehend.

The king of Asgard waited for the middle aged human male to leave the room, before he showed himself to Thor. He had dressed himself in Midgardian fashion, with a scarf and a long black coat. There was not much he liked about humans, but they had some stylish clothes. 

Thor was sitting on a chair in the middle of a white room, his head snapping up when Loki appeared in front of him. "Loki! What are you doing here?"

"I had to see you," Loki answered solemnly.

"What is it? Is it Jotunheim? Let me speak to father, I can explain," Thor said, his tone a little desperate. Being stripped of his powers didn't leave much confidence in his brother. It was actually a little pathetic, Thor was a mere shadow of the proud warrior he once was.

"Father is dead," Loki stated in a low voice. "Your actions and your banishment... It was too much for him. The burden of the throne has fallen to me now." Loki watched his brother process his message. Thor took it rather well, he had to give him that. 

Loki looked around him, at the Midgardian facility they were standing in. "It was cruel to put the hammer within your reach," he mumbled, sensing Mjölnir close by.

"Are you here to take me back?" Thor asked hopefully.

Loki shook his head. "The truce with Jotunheim is conditional upon your exile. And mother has forbidden your return. This is goodbye. I'm so sorry, brother."

"No, I am sorry," Thor answered, surprising Loki a little with this newly gained self-awareness. "Thank you for coming here."

Loki took one last look on his brother before he told him farewell and left the room. On his way out he came past his brother's mighty hammer. Mjölnir had buried himself into the Midgardian soil, it's handle pointing upward as if to dare anyone to try and lift it. Just out of curiosity Loki briefly put his hand on it. Of course the hammer wouldn't budge. But Loki didn't care, he would prove himself worthy of the throne of Asgard in different way. First, he had to pay someone else a visit.

"Kill him," Laufey said harshly as soon as he saw Loki walking into the room.

Loki laughed confidently. "Kill me? After all I have done for you?"

"So you're the one who showed us the way into Asgard," the Jotun king said, watching the dark haired prince with more interest.

"That was just a bit of fun, really," Loki responded. "To disturb my brother's big day and to protect the realm from his idiotic rule for a while longer." He took a step closer to Laufey. "I have a preposition."

The Jotun king didn't trust him for one bit, Loki could see that from a mile away, but he lent him his ear anyway. "I'll allow you and a handful of warriors into Asgard, to Odin's chambers, where you can slay him where he lies. I'll tell you when the time is right to come," Loki said to Laufey, carefully watching his reaction.

"Why not kill him yourself?" came the logical question from the Frost Giant.

"I don't think the people of Asgard look kindly upon a king who killed his predecessor," Loki chuckled before he got serious again. "When all this is done, I will return the Casket to you," he said, looking around the room. "So you can restore your realm to its former... glory." He couldn't imagine how Jotunheim could look any better, but this wasn't his realm anyway.

As Loki expected, the Jotun king accepted his preposition. The old truce between Asgard and the Frost Giants was not in Jotunheim's benefit. The realm was left wanting, stripped from it's powersource when Odin took the Casket of Ancient Winters. It was only logical king Laufey was willing to do anything to get back at the Allfather. The only thing that surprised Loki was that the Jotuns had not tried anything before.

When Loki stepped out of the Bifrost portal, Heimdall was waiting for him. "I turned my gaze upon you in Midgard and Jotunheim, but could neither see or hear you. Just like when the Jotuns came into Asgard," the gatekeeper stated in his typical manner.

Loki appreciated the watchman's powers, but Heimdall also had a firm set of morals installed in him, morals that would never bend. "You are very powerful," Loki remarked, casually walking around Heimdall's spot in the middle of the Observatory. "Did Odin ever fear you?"

"No," said Heimdall. "Because he is my king and I swore to obey him."

"He was your king," emphasized Loki. "And you're sworn to obey me now, right?"

"Yes," Heimdall answered reluctantly, but Loki was satisfied with that answer for now.

"Then you will open the Bifrost to no one, until I have repaired the damage my brother has done!"


	14. The proposition

With the Bifrost sealed and Heimdall keeping watch, life in Asgard could return to normal. The people accepted Loki on the throne, at least for as long the Allfather was in Odinsleep. Loki took it upon himself to prove himself a good king and he made time for his subjects every day. Lady Sif continued to glare at him when they had dinner with the royal household, but she would get used to her new king soon enough.

Lady Loriana was still their guest. Recent events had shook everyone in the palace and the Alfheim party had kept to themselves mostly. But now things were returned to normal, a few weeks after all the upsetting events, the original purpose of their visit resurfaced.

A messenger brought Loki a letter from king Vonhir, wishing him good fortune as the new king of Asgard and giving him his blessing if Loki would still want to marry his youngest daughter. But the letter also stated that the Alfheim king would understand it if a better match was found for the new king. Loki showed the letter to his mother.

"I still think Lady Loriana is a good match for you," she said, giving him the letter back.

"I don't agree, mother," Loki said friendly, knowing his mother would say something like that.

"Are you still hung up on that handmaiden?" lady Frigga asked. "A king can't marry a commoner, you know that!"

"I do what I want," Loki chuckled, dodging his mother's hand when she wanted to slap him on his arm. "Seriously, mother, if I marry, I want it to be for love. And I love Mirilya."

Lady Frigga frowned, but she kept silent, studying her son's face. Loki just looked back, letting her come to her own conclusions.

"You really mean it, don't you? You love that girl," his mother said eventually.

Loki nodded. "I do. And you would too, if you got to know her."

"But what about the princess? It would humiliate her greatly if her handmaiden would be favoured over her!"

"Then we make sure she can save face," Loki said. "It's not my intention to wrong her, or her family."

"First, bring your girl over for tea this afternoon. If she is as lovely as you say she is, it's about time I get to know her."

Loki sat on his bed and watched Mirilya pace up and down his room. "Don't laugh at me!" she scolded him, but he just smirked.

"You're getting worked up over nothing, my love. It's just tea."

"With the Allmother!" she exclaimed. "Your mother! I don't even know what's worse."

"You've met Lady Frigga before," Loki said soothingly.

"Yes, but then I was just Lady Loriana's handmaiden. We didn't talk. And now she's invited me for tea and I am..." Mirilya stopped pacing and threw her hands up. "What am I?"

Loki got up from the bed and walked over to her, taking her in his arms. "You are the woman I love. Mother wants to get to know you, that is all. Just be yourself and I know she is going to love you."

Mirilya rested her forehead against his chest. "I don't have a fancy dress," she muttered. "I'm just a handmaiden."

"If you want, I can get the seamstress to make you some new ones, but I like your dresses. They're simple and elegant. Your eyes are what makes you shine, you don't need a fancy dress to look beautiful."

The young woman let out a deep sigh. "Alright, if you say so."

"You know, my word is the law, I'm the king nowadays. Umph!" Loki caught her hands after she punched him in his stomach and put them around his neck. "Is this how you treat your king?" he chuckled and leaned in to kiss her.

Mirilya smiled against his lips. "I do, if he wants me to meet his mother on such short notice."

A little later Loki squeezed her hand before he put his hand on her back to guide Mirilya forward. "Mother, I'd like you to meet Mirilya."

"Nice to meet you, my dear. Loki has told me a lot about you," Lady Frigga said with a smile and extended her hand to the young Lightelf before her.

Loki could feel Mirilya shake a little under his hand and he rubbed small circles on her lower back to reassure her.  
He was pleased to see his mother also did her best to put Mirilya at ease. The young woman was very nervous at first, but by the time they had their second cup of tea the women were chatting amicably. Loki didn't say much himself, he found pleasure in watching the two women he loved most getting along.

Lady Frigga wanted to know all about her son's love interest, so Mirilya told them how she grew up in the Alfheim palace. Mirilya's mother used to be Lady Loriana's wetnurse and caretaker. The two girls grew up alongside each other and although Mirilya didn't receive a formal education officially, she was present during most of the princess her lessons.   
"I even did her homework on some occasions," Mirilya told Lady Frigga with a chuckle.

"Forgive me for my bold question, my dear," his mother said to Mirilya. "But does Lady Loriana know about you and Loki?"

"She does," answered Mirilya after a moment of hesitation.

"She does?" Loki asked sharply, surprised by this piece of information. Mirilya blushed under his gaze.

"Women talk, Loki. You should know by now," his mother said with a wink at Mirilya. "What did she say about it?"

"She's happy for me," the Lightelf said with a smile. "But she's also a bit worried, because of the difference in status."

"Yes," Lady Frigga replied. "Tradition does require a highborn partner for the king."

Loki scoffed and grabbed Mirilya's hand. "I don't care about tradition, I care about you." He brought her hand up to his lips for a kiss. "And I just thought of a way to make the way free for you, without embarrassing Lady Loriana."

***  
"Are you sure about this? People will talk, you know."

"People will always talk, my love," Loki said to Mirilya, who was standing in front of the mirror in his bathroom to put her hair up. "I'm sure Lady Loriana and Lord Hergund can handle a little gossip in exchange for being able to express their love for each other in public."   
He walked up to Mirilya and put his arms around her from behind. "And I want to be able to do the same. To show the people that you are with me."

He pressed his lips against her neck. He loved to see her close her eyes at his touch, to hear the little contented sounds that escaped her lips when he held her close. He loved to hear her moan to his touch even more and she rewarded him with that when he put his lips to the sensitive spot under her ear. He put a trail of kisses on the skin that was exposed by the low neckline of her dress, holding her firmly against him by her hips.

"Loki," she giggled. "Don't. We're gonna be late."

"I don't care," Loki said in between kisses.

"But I do," Mirilya said, turning around in his arms to put her hands on his chest. "After this I'm all yours again, but I don't want to keep my friend waiting."

Loki looked up from kissing her neck and gave her a peck on the nose. "Alright, but I'm keeping you to your promise."

When they walked the hallways to the throne room, Loki wished he could speed up time to the point that he could make Mirilya his queen. Now, she walked a few yards behind him, like his handmaiden should. His squire, her brother, was walking between them. Loki was pretty sure the young man knew what was going on between his sister and the king, but he had not said anything. Mirilya did say her brother had asked her once if Loki was treating her well, but he had left it at that when her answer was positive.

Loki took his place on the throne and gestured for Mirilya to stand to his right. He had ordered Brent to stay outside, to stand guard as he did not wish to be disturbed by anyone.   
After Brent had called them in, Lady Loriana and Lord Hergund walked down the room, stopping in front of the steps to the throne. Lady Loriana curtsied and her guardian took a bow, Loki acknowledged their tributes and thanked them warmly for coming.

Lady Loriana smiled at her friend, but Lord Hergund looked thoughtful when he saw Mirilya standing to the king's right side, a meaningful position in a full court. Loki appreciated the Lord's vigilance, he was aware of the meaning of a lot of what went on around him. Now Loki only had to make Hergund see that what he had in mind for the Alfheim nobleman was the best move for everybody involved. He expected that he had to convince Lord Hergund above all, the princess was probably the least of his worries.

"My friends," Loki said from his throne. "I have a proposition for you that I think will benefit all of us." He explained to the Lord and Lady that he wanted them to come forward with their relationship as soon as possible. As king of Asgard he would send a letter to king Vonhir in which he would give his blessing to their coupling. "I'm also prepared to give Lord Hergund an extra title, if it helps to convince king Vonhir of his suitability as a husband for his daughter."

"That won't be necessary, my king," Lord Hergund immediately replied, standing up even straighter than he already did.

Loki chuckled at the Lord's pride, he had already expected a reaction like this.  
"We'll see. The offer stands," Loki said pleasantly. "Now, what do you think of my proposition?"

The Alfheim princess and her guardian glanced at each other. They quietly spoke some words to each other in their native language and Loki decided he would let this breach of etiquette slide for now. His knowledge of the Alfheim language was enough to get the gist of their conversation. It looked like Lord Hergund was against his plan, while the princess was more willing to go for it, but some middle ground between them was yet to be found.

Mirilya quietly got closer to Loki and leaned over to whisper to him. "Loki, do they have to decide now? Let them sleep on it. They have been secretive about their relationship for quite some time, I think it's hard for them to make it public all of a sudden."

Loki reached out to stroke her cheek. "This, my love, is why you would make a good queen."


	15. News

Loki woke the next morning and rolled over to cuddle up to Mirilya, only to find the space next to him in bed empty. Frowning, he propped himself up on his elbow. On the table by the window was their breakfast, but Mirilya was nowhere to be seen. Normally, if she was the first to get out of bed, she crawled back in after she picked up their breakfast from the kitchens. Suddenly, he heard some sounds from the bathroom that made him sprint out of bed.

"Mirilya, are you alright?" he called as he opened the door. He found her hunched over the toilet and hurried to her side. Loki took her face in his hands, strands of hair clung to the sweat on her forehead. "Are you unwell? Shall I call for the healer?"

She shook her head and wiped her mouth with her hand. "No, I was just feeling nauseous. I think it's over now..."

Loki stood up and got her a glass of water. He handed it to her and wiped her face with a wet cloth.   
"Maybe it's a stomach bug. Let's get you back to bed." He took the glass from her and helped her up.

When she was propped up in the pillows and covered by the blanket, he asked if she'd like some tea.

"No, that's what started it in the first place," she said, scrunching her nose up.

"The tea made you nauseous?" Loki picked up the teapot and opened the lid to smell the contents. "It's just tea with spices, cinnamon and apple I think."

"Ugh, please put it away. That cinnamon makes my stomach churn." Mirilya pulled the blankets over her nose to get away from the smell.

"Just a glass of water, then?" Loki put the teapot away and filled a glass of water from the tap. He took a seat on the edge of the bed and gave his love a worried look.   
"You better stay in bed. I'll ask Liselore to look after you today. I'm sure she can spare some time for you while tending to Lady Loriana."

"Wouldn't it be better if I went to my own room then?" Mirilya asked a bit alarmed. "What will Liselore think if I'm in your bed?"

"She will think you're sick and that you need your rest," Loki answered and caressed her cheek. "Don't worry. Liselore is not one to gossip. Better her than Irina," he chuckled.

When Loki was ready to start his day and open court, he instructed his squire Brent to inform Liselore. "Your sister is sick and will stay in my room. Ask Liselore to look after her today."

"Yes, my king," Brent replied with a nod of his head, but he couldn't keep his mixed emotions from flashing over his face.

"Something wrong, Brent?" Loki looked at his squire with a stern face. The young man surely had some thoughts about his sister and the king, but Loki didn't want to hear them.

"No, my king. I'll inform Liselore," Brent said quickly and went on his way.

Loki had a full docket today, he spent the whole morning listening to one petitioner after another and in the afternoon he had a meeting with the war council of Asgard. The war council was formed by the two representatives of Alfheim and Vanaheim, along with the Warriors Three, Lady Sif, and two other seasoned warriors, Lord Gurdan and Lord Walverling. Together with the king that made 9 people, one for each realm.

"Everything is quiet in the realms, my King. The shock of the Allfather going into Odinsleep has worn off and things have settled down again," Lord Gurdan said with his baritone voice. He had a big belly that served as a sound box for his deep voice. The Lord's days on the battlefield were over, but he still oversaw the training program for young warriors and was a well respected man throughout the troops.

"Even Jotunheim is quiet," general Walverling added. "Perhaps too quiet."

"Well, it's all rocks and ice there, they don't have much to make a fuss about," Fandral quipped, while cleaning his fingernails with a small dagger. The others ignored his comment, they knew better than to react to his jokes.

"It's like they're waiting for something," Walverling continued unfazed.

"Waiting for what?" Volstagg asked. "They challenged us with their attack and we reacted. Who says they don't leave it at that?"

"Laufey promised us war and death," Lady Sif reminded her fellow warrior. "He did not want to hear Odin's talk of peace."

"The Jotuns are a hardened race and Laufey is not someone who you can challenge lightly," Lord Brudan said.

"With Odin in Odinsleep and a possible war with Jotunheim ahead of us, I think we should call back Thor," Lady Sif argued in her usual snappy way.

"No." Loki's answer was short and cold.

"Why not? Isn't he punished enough already?"

"Father banished Thor for his unjustifiable actions. Because of Thor the truce with Jotunheim is beyond repair."

Lady Sif banged her fist on the table. "The Frost Giants were the first to break the truce!"

"And they paid for it with their lives." Loki's eyes were shooting daggers at the rebellious lady warrior. "It could have stopped with that, if not for Thor's obnoxious ego."   
He challenged Sif with his eyes, willing her to be quiet. She shifted in her seat and still looked like she had a lot to say, but she thought better of it and pressed her lips together.

"Do you expect another Jotun attack?" Hogun asked Lord Walverling, returning to the original topic.

"I would certainly not sit back and rest easy," the general said. "But I don't know what to think of their current behaviour. It would have been more logical for them to attack sooner, especially now Odin is incapacitated."

"We could send a spy? Find out what's happening?" Hogun looked around the table to check the reactions of the counsil. There were consenting murmurs all around the table.

"It is dangerous," Lord Gurdan said thoughtfully, rubbing his hand across his greying beard. "If Laufey gets wind of it, we most certainly have a war on our hands."

"I agree," said Loki, sitting up straighter to let his position at the head of the table weigh in too. "Heimdall is keeping a close watch on Jotunheim. Who knows for how long they'll remain passive. I don't want to risk a bloody war by sending a spy." Loki was content with Laufey's behaviour, waiting for his signal like a well trained dog. He didn't want to ruin it by sending an Asgardian spy to Jotunheim.

"As strange as their behaviour is, it could turn out to be nothing, that's true," Lord Walverling said, adding his support to his king.

"Good. I'll instruct Heimdall again to watch for anything that could indicate they want to move on Asgard. But for now, we'll just wait." Loki didn't wait for the opinion of Lady Sif or the Warriors Three. The lords Gurdan and Walverling outranked them with their seniority. As for the Alfheim and Vanaheim representatives, they just followed the decree of the king. Asgard was the superior realm after all.

When the council adjourned, Loki suppressed a groan when he got out of his chair. Ruling the kingdom had its perks, the power being the main draw, but sitting on your ass in meeting after meeting was not something Loki enjoyed very much.

"My king? Lady Loriana has requested you join her in the gardens." Brent fell into step with Loki as soon as he set foot outside the door.

He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt like saying 'do I have to?' in a whiny voice, like he was a little kid again.  
"Alright," he said with a small sigh. "Check up on your sister for me, will you?"

"No need to, my King," Brent answered to his surprise. "She's with Lady Loriana."

Loki was suddenly much more looking forward to a walk in the gardens. He had been worried about Mirilya all day, but he had been to busy with state business to go and see her in between. He walked to the gardens swiftly, finding Mirilya and the other Alfheim guests in the greenhouse. They were talking to Lady Frigga, who had her gardening gloves on and her pruning shears in her hand.   
Lord Bredun and Lord Mordan were there too, but they were keeping their distance, standing at the entrance of the greenhouse and they greeted Loki politely when he walked in. The other people also greeted him as was befitting for his rank as king of Asgard, even his mother bowed her head. It had been a few weeks now and Loki was still not completely used to it. It was such a big difference from the place he was in before Thor's banishment. He used to be the second son, the God of Mischief, a master of magic that everyone was a bit weary off. The weariness was still there probably, but he was their king now and he was treated as such.

"Ladies, Lord," Loki greeted them, giving Mirilya the same honour as the Allmother and the princess. "Is mother making you pull out weeds?"

"Loki!" Lady Frigga reprimanded him playfully, taking off her gardening gloves. "I was just done anyway."

He moved to Mirilya's side, kissing her on the temple. "I'm glad to see you're feeling better."   
Everybody here knew about them, so Loki saw no need to hide their relationship. Even if Lord Hergund wasn't completely in the know, he must have known something, because he didn't look fazed by it. Even more so, the princess let her hand slide in her guardians big hand and laced their fingers together.

"My King, Loki, we wanted to comply with your request to come forward with our relationship," Lady Loriana said, running her free hand up and down Lord Hergunds arm. Her guardian's smile was a little strained, but he nodded anyway.

"I'm glad to hear that," Loki answered with a smile of his own, relieved they only had needed one night to sleep on it. His hand slid behind Mirilya's back and she leaned into it, probably enjoying this simple contact as much as he did. He'd like to do much more than touch the small of her back, but that would have to wait.

"I think we should take a walk," Lady Frigga said cheerily. "All of us. At this time of the day the gardens are a very popular place to be."

Loki immediately understood what his mother meant. If they were seen as a group, with the princess and Lord Hergund holding hands, the people would know the king and the Allmother supported their coupling.   
"Good idea, mother, I'd love to stretch my legs before dinner."

Lady Frigga put her gardening tools away and led the way out of the greenhouse. When Loki guided Mirilya outside, his mother put a hand on his arm. "One thing at a time, my son. First, let the princess have her moment." She smiled at Mirilya. "Will you walk with me, my dear?"

Knowing his mother was right, Loki let her walk with Mirilya and went to walk next to Lady Loriana and Lord Hergund instead. They chatted amicably, talking about the garden, the weather and even his newfound duties as king. Grown up in a palace, the princess of course knew from close hand what it was like to be royalty and what a burden the crown could be.

Loki was walking with his hands casually clasped behind his back, making sure he kept his face relaxed and smiling all the time. At first, the couple next to him was somewhat tense, especially when they encountered other people in the garden for the first time. The significance of the princess and her guardian holding hands while strolling next to the king didn't escape any onlookers. There were shocked glances and whispers, but people tried to hide their reaction as much as possible.   
The fact that a handmaiden was deep in conversation with the Allmother didn't gather as much attention. Lady Frigga was friendly to everyone and knew every servant in the palace by name. Yet, Mirilya being a part of the noble group did have some significance in its own, because Lord Bredun and Lord Mordan were higher in rank than her and they were walking several yards behind the others.

An elder lady and her daughter came walking in the opposite direction. It was Lady Birgitta, a good friend of his mother, and her daughter Karine. The latter was around Thor's age and had always pined after the blond prince. Thor on the other hand had never looked twice at the homely looking girl, with her salt-and-pepper hair and somewhat square jaw. That didn't diminish Karine's admiration for the brawny warrior and she always hovered around him when he was near. She had tried a couple of times to get to Thor via Loki, trying to engage him in conversation, but Loki was always bored out of his mind within seconds with her. Her mother on the other hand was a delight to talk too, with her witty mind and sharp eyes. Lady Frigga was famous for knowing everything in the palace, but Lady Birgitta was a good second. She was also an important source for the Allmother, as she had no problem engaging in the palace gossip. On the contrary, she found it highly entertaining and loved to talk about everyone and everything that happened. But, to her credit, she gave everybody the same treatment and would say the same thing in your face as she would behind your back.

Lady Birgitta and her daughter curtsied for the king and the Allmother and respectfully greeted the Alfheim guests.

"Lady Loriana, what a delight to meet you again. Do you enjoy your stay in Asgard?" Lady Birgitta asked cheerfully, acting like she had not noticed how the princess and Lord Hergund were holding hands just a moment before. But Loki knew from just looking at her face that the cogs in her head were turning at full speed, trying to get a full grasp on the situation before her.

"Yes, we like it very much," the princess answered, staying close to Lord Hergund's side and even giving him a loving smile.

Loki chuckled softly when he saw Lady Birgitta's eyebrows arch at the use of the plural pronoun. Oh, the elder lady was just eating this all up. He glanced at his mother, who gave him a quick wink, she probably thought the same thing. Those in the palace who did not know today, would certainly know all about the princess and her guardian tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note:   
> Thanks for reading! The story is in a somewhat peaceful place right now, but this is just the eye of the storm... there's trouble up ahead, but it will take some time (chapters) for the proverbial sh*t to hit the fan. So stay tuned and don't forget to leave kudos or comment! Thank you!


	16. Gossip

Throughout the next week the Alfheim princess and her guardian were the talk of the palace. Although Loki had made sure he was seen with them multiple times, the people continued to gossip about the fact that the princess had chosen her guardian over the king of Asgard.

"I need your advice, mother," Loki called out when he walked briskly into his mother's sitting room without knocking.   
She still lived in the same rooms as she had always done when Odin sat on the throne. Technically, Loki had the right to the King's chambers now, but he didn't want to kick his mother out. His own rooms were more than sufficiënt, and he loved the view from his balcony.  
Lady Frigga sat on one of the sofa's, her knitting in her lap. Across from her sat her friend, holding a round frame with fabric for needlepointing.  
"Excuse me, Lady Brigitta, I didn't realise my mother had company."

"No problem, my King, we were just keeping each other company while we keep our hands busy. Shall I leave?" His mother's friend already got up and started gathering her things.

"Please stay, my lady. Perhaps you could be of advice too." Loki gestured for her to sit down again, which she eagerly did, her interest peaked.

"What do you need the advice of two middle-aged ladies for, my son?" Lady Frigga asked amused.

"Matters of love, of course. What else?" Loki answered with a big grin. He knew better than to discuss his love life with a notorious gossip like Lady Brigitta, but the more she thought it a personal matter to the king, the more invested she would be. As of yet, both ladies put down their crafting work and scooted forward in their seats to listen to what he had to say.

"Princess Loriana is devastated by the way people are talking about her. Of course I could order them to stop, but I don't think that would have the desired effect. I hoped you would have a better idea to put a stop to those nasty rumours. I hate to see Lady Loriana get hurt like this." Actually, Loki thought she just needed to develop a thicker skin, but Mirilya felt sorry for her friend.

"They have turned rather hurtful indeed," Lady Frigga said thoughtfully. "They say the princess is insulting Asgard with her choice of lover."

"And that's just a nice way of putting it," her friend remarked, arching her eyebrows.

Loki was well aware of all the mean things that were being said. Brent had befriended some of the maids, including Irina, and heard a lot of gossip that way. Loki had asked the squire to keep him informed of any new stories that surfaced and the squire was happy to oblige, his allegiance to Alfheim making him more than willing to help defend the princess. He had also warned his sister and even Loki himself that there were talks of Mirilya sleeping with the king. 'The king's little whore' had one of the slop jockeys in the kitchen so foolishly called her. Brent had thrown the stupid boy halfway across the room for insulting his sister. Needless to say, the cook hired a new help the next day.

"How could we turn things around?" Loki asked, looking from one lady to another. "I've been on a couple of outings with the princess and Lord Hergund, but somehow that didn't convey the message that I approve of their relationship."

"Maybe that's because you only encountered a limited amount of people on those outings, my King," Lady Brigitta suggested. "You need to reach out to a wider audience."

"You are right," the Allmother replied to her friend and then turned back to Loki. "Perhaps we could organise a ball in honour of the Alfheim guests?"

Loki rubbed his hand across his chin, looking thoughtful. "I had thought of that, but it seemed a bit indelicate to have a feast when... father is in Odinsleep." The word 'father' did not leave his mouth that easily, but Lady Brigitta would probably attribute his hesitation to feeling sad about Odin's condition.

"Nonsense," Lady Frigga said, steeling her voice a bit. Loki knew she sat by Odin's side every evening, watching her husband in his comatose sleep. "Your father has been in Odinsleep for a while now. A ball will be a nice distraction to us all." Even though the Allmother sounded confident, she gratefully grabbed Loki's hand when he came to sit next to her.

"Maybe we could invite the Alfheim king and queen?" Loki suggested, looking at his mother. He had met the royal couple only once, when he was still very young, but he knew his mother kept up a correspondence with the queen.

"It would be nice to see Lady Aylina again. It's been too long," Lady Frigga said with a small sigh.

"We'll invite them. I'd like for you to see your friend again," Loki said softly, squeezing his mother's hand. Lady Brigitta nodded enthusiastically, she was even a bit moved by the loving exchange between mother and son in front of her.   
"Can I ask you to organise the ball?" Loki asked Lady Frigga. "Everyone knows you give the best parties."

"I'll be happy to help, Frigga," Lady Brigitta quickly offered, looking forward to the ball already.

The Allmother smiled. "Of course, we'll make it a feast that will make everybody forget what they were talking about." Her friend clapped her hands together in happy anticipation.

They talked some more about the details of the ball before Loki stood up to take his leave.   
Lady Brigitta put a hand on his sleeve to stop him. "Loki, my King, I hope I'm not being to forward with this, but I wanted to bring something to your attention."

Loki smiled friendly at the woman who he had known from a young age. "You can speak, my lady. We are in my mother's private rooms, there is a lot that's been said between these walls already."

"It is indeed a bit of a delicate subject," Lady Brigitta said cautiously. Loki eyed her patiently, he had a suspicion of what she wanted to say and was proved right with her next words. "I wondered if you were aware of the talks that are going around about another of the Alfheim guests, a female guest that is being linked to you."

"I assume you are talking about Lady Loriana's close friend and handmaiden, Lady Mirilya?" Loki asked, his eyebrow arched challengingly.

"That's the one, my King," Lady Brigitta said quickly. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise she was of noble descent?"

Loki hesitated a second to answer. He could not say Mirilya was of noble descent when she wasn't, people would find out and then there would be more trouble. But he also didn't want people to think the young Alfheim woman was below them.

However,his mother answered for him, getting up to stand next to Loki. "She is such a lovely young woman!" Lady Frigga said with a big smile. "She was raised with the princess. Mirilya is very spirited and intelligent, I would not be surprised if she has read Loki's whole library by now." Frigga laughed and gave Loki a little bump with her hip, hidden from Lady Brigitta who was a bit caught off guard by the Allmother's enthusiasm for the Alfheim girl. "And she has a gift for embroidery, you should join me sometime when I sit together with the princess and her friend. The Lightelves have some interesting needlepoint techniques."

"I'd love to," Lady Brigitta said to her friend, eager to jump on the chance to get closer to the Alfheim guests. However, she did bow her head for Loki, realising her discourtesy. "I'm sorry, my King, I did not want to disrespect you or your guests. I did not realise how close the Alfheim party was to you and your mother."

"They are good friends," Loki said evenly, hiding his gratitude for his mother's intervention. He didn't mind Lady Brigitta's behaviour that much, he had known her for a long time and he knew she was loyal to the Asgardian royal family. "It's a pity people in the palace have nothing better to do than badmouthing our guests."

"I agree, my King," Lady Brigitta said, still keeping her head down. Loki used the opportunity to mouth a thank you to his mother, to which she replied with a loving smile that made her eyes twinkle.

After he left the two women Loki went in search of Mirilya. He found her in his chambers, reading in a chair by the fire. Lady Frigga had not been far from the truth when she said Mirilya probably had read Loki's entire library by now. The young woman had a passion for reading and often spent her free afternoons with a book, either by the hearth or in the gardens.

Loki lifted her from the chair so he could take a seat in it himself, settling her in his lap. She giggled and protested a little, trying to keep her finger on the page she was reading. He enveloped her in his arms and buried his nose in her brown curls. They smelled faintly of jasmin and Loki remembered the shampoo he had seen in the bathroom.   
The couple sat like that for a while, Mirilya reading her book with Loki just holding her close, his chin resting on her shoulder. Most days he had to leave early to attend to his kingly duties and didn't see her until the end of the day. So when he had the opportunity to see her, he took it. Even when it was just for a short while.

"So, I hear you've been hanging out with my mother," Loki said when he finally lifted his face from her shoulder.

"I did," Mirilya answered, her eyes quickly scanning the page before closing the book and turning her head to Loki. "She has been really nice to me and I've seen her a couple of times since we had tea that afternoon."

"You didn't tell me that." Loki brushed an unruly lock of curls back behind her ear. "But it's nice you and mother are spending time together. I think she really likes you."

"She does?" Mirilya's eyes lit up in excitement. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I've hardly seen you this week. You've been so busy! And when I saw you... Well... I sort of forgot to tell you. It's not like it's that newsworthy if I spent a few hours doing embroidery with your mother and Loriana."

"True. But I like it when you tell me about your day, even when it's just little things like that."

"Alright, shall I tell you what I did today?"

"Yes please," answered Loki and put his nose in her hair again, nuzzling her neck. He could feel the vibrations of her voice in her throat and started to plant little kisses in her neck and along her jaw while Mirilya told him about her day.

"You're not listening!" she complained with a laugh when he sucked at her earlobe.

"Yes, I am. You went to the stables," he said, gently nipping her ear.

"Loki! I can not talk when you do that!"

"I'm sorry," he murmured, grinning against her cheek as he pulled the cord that laced up the bodice of her dress.

"You're not sorry," Mirilya chuckled, laying her hands on each side of his face to make him look her in the eye.

He responded by kissing her, gently tracing her lips with his tongue. She made a small noise and put her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. No, Loki was most certainly not sorry for interrupting her story.


	17. Baser instincts

The sun peaked in through the curtains, a streak of light falling across Mirilya's sleeping face. Loki loved waking up next to her, she was his little haven of peace and quiet. All day long there were people wanting something from him and he had to play the role of king, but with Mirilya there were no such things. It was just him and her, enjoying each other and their time together. She even got him to talk about his recent discoveries about his lineage. She was surprisingly relaxed about it and with his permission she had picked up books about Jotunheim from the library. Mirilya was particularly fascinated by the Jotun's ability to manipulate ice, marvelling at the pictures of Frost Giants with various types of icy weapons attached to their arms. Loki grimaced when he thought about the cut at his back, caused by such a weapon. Mirilya had not realised his wound was caused by an ice sword and thinking back to the look on her face when he had told her, made him smile. She had felt bad for admiring the Jotun weapon that had hurt him. But he made her laugh again when he told her he actually had some fond memories about that day, as it was the first time he kissed her. The cut was long healed, only a thin silvery line visible across his back, but his girl was still here. And he meant to keep her with him, for a long, long time.

Loki slipped out of bed to get them breakfast. When he returned with the tray, Mirilya had just woken up. She pushed herself upright in the cushions and smiled warmly at him.  
"Good morning, my love. Want some breakfast?" Loki put down the tray on the table and walked to the bed to kiss Mirilya.

"Just some toast," she said after she pulled back from their kiss, threw back the covers and slid out of bed.

"Again? You've been eating toast for breakfast all week. Don't you get tired of it?" Loki poured some tea for them and held a cup out to Mirilya, who eyed it a bit wary. "It's just green tea with some lemon, don't worry."

She took the cup from him and blew the steam from it. "I'm just feeling a bit queasy. My stomach has been acting up all week."

Loki crouched down next to her chair and took her hand. "Why didn't you tell me you're not feeling well?"

"I didn't want you to worry. Besides, I always felt fine a couple of hours later," she said with a small smile. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Loki could hardly breathe when he stared at Mirilya's face. Could it be? Was she...? In a surprisingly short time she had found a way to his heart and made herself a permanent home there, but this was something else entirely.

"Loki? Love? You're scaring me, what's wrong?" Mirilya had put her tea down and now grabbed his hand with both of hers.

He shook his head to dispel the shock from his face. "Nothing's wrong, my love. A surprise, yes, but far from wrong."

"I'm not following you." She was looking confused.

Loki got up from the floor and pulled up a chair next to her, taking her hands again as soon as he sat down.  
"Just think, my love. Have you been feeling different lately?"

She arched her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Loki chuckled. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure his suspicions were true.   
"You've been feeling sick in the mornings, you get nauseous from the smell of cinnamon and this week I've heard you complain more than once about your breasts being tender." He let her process this and slowly slid his hand across her lap to her stomach.

After a second Mirilya gasped and grabbed his hand on her stomach, her eyes wide. "You don't think...?"

"The signs are there," Loki answered with a smile. "But we'll have to visit the healer to be sure."

"But... but..." Mirilya looked seriously confused and flustered, yet her eyes sparkled. Loki slid to the edge of his chair and softly kissed her lips. She leaned her forehead against his. "You're not mad?" Her golden eyes gazed into his.

He chuckled again. "Why would I be mad? I'm in on this too, aren't I? You could not have done it without me."   
This made her laugh and she kissed him again, without reservations. After a few moments he pulled back. "We still need to visit the healer to be sure, ok?"

Mirilya nodded and then started to look worried. "How... I don't get it... I thought you said you used protection."

"Yeah... I'm a bit unsure about that part as well," Loki said slowly. "It's just a simple bit of magic, but quite effective. I've used it every time..."   
In his mind he went over the days and nights from the past weeks, he was pretty sure he applied the spell every time they had sex. Except...

He felt the colour drain from his face, making him even paler than his usual light complexion. Horrified he jumped up from his chair, causing it to fall backwards. There was that one time... one time when he did not think, when his mind was clouded by so much anger and self-loathing that his baser instincts took over.

Lost in his own devastating thoughts, Loki slowly backed away from Mirilya, her fear and hurt from that night clearly visible for his mind's eye. He bumped into his writing desk, which only added fuel to his mind's fire. Suddenly rage took over and he flipped the desk over in one strong heave. It crashed on the floor, books and papers scattered across the room. Loki looked at the mess he made, it seemed to match the turmoil in his head. He had to fix this, somehow. He had to punish the one who was to blame.

The door slammed behind him as he ran from the room. In his run he teleported himself to the end of the Rainbow Bridge, coming to a brisk stop at the entrance of the round sphere where Heimdall stood watching the skies.

"I don't think it's wise to go in alone, my King," the gatekeeper said solemnly without taking his gaze from the vast space outside of the realm.

"I'll be the one to decide that!" Loki spat at him and magically switched his clothes for his leather armour in just a moment of time. "Now, open the portal!"

The Bifrost took Loki to a deserted slab of rock, not a living thing in sight for at least a mile. A freezing wind grabbed at his leather armour, making Loki hunch his shoulders. He looked around to get himself a bearing and then started off in the direction of his destination.

"Took you long enough." Laufey's voice was cold and menacing but Loki wasn't fazed by this reception. That the Jotun king had waited for him to come, told him he had the upper hand. Laufey wanted the Casket, he wanted to get revenge on the Allfather. And he needed Loki to get what he wanted.

"I'm here now, aren't I?" Loki ignored the towering Frost Giants around him and looked Laufey straight in the eye. He was repulsed by the thought that this monster was his father, that he was the heir to this cold and dark kingdom made of nothing but ice and stone. It was a far cry from the wealth and comfort of Asgard, the realm that he was raised to believe he would inherit some day. Oh, the throne was his now, for as long as Odin was in Odinsleep, but it didn't feel right. There was a Jotun sitting on that throne, a Jotun dressed up as an Asgardian. Yet, he felt no connection with the blue giant across from him either. No, Loki was his own man. And he was gonna act like it. "Tonight. Just you and a handful of warriors. Be ready."

When he stepped back through the portal, Heimdall rested his gaze on his king instead of the vast enormity of space. "Once again your visit to Jotunheim was clouded from my view," he said, the accusation easily heard between the lines.

"Do I need to remind you of your oath to the king? Your oath to me?" Loki answered coldly. He felt a little more at ease now his plan was set in motion, but he had no patience for the righteousness of Asgard's ever watching gatekeeper.

"No, my king. My duty lies with Asgard and my king."

"Good. Just remember we both work to keep this realm safe."   
Leaving Heimdall to chew on that, Loki set foot on the Rainbow Bridge. Teleporting back to the palace would have been easier and faster, but he needed some time to clear his mind. He had stormed out on Mirilya this morning, leaving her high and dry after a life changing discovery. Finding out she was pregnant had been a happy surprise, all too soon dampened by the horrible circumstances of the conception. He was a monster. What if he had impregnated her with a monster? Loki's mind was filled with hatred and self-doubt, chewing at him from the inside. Mirilya was his world, his safe haven, she held his heart. Yet this was how he treated her, he really was no better than the monsters parents warned their kids about at night.

Loki was deep in his own thoughts when he neared the palace, he didn't notice his squire waiting for him.

"My king, the Allmother asks for you to come see her right away."

Because he dreaded facing Mirilya, Loki followed Brent to his mother's chambers. Maybe dealing with something else first would give him some distance from it, would make it a little easier to face the consequences of his actions. Because all he wanted was to make it right with Mirilya, he just didn't know how yet.


	18. Doing right

"You coward! How dare you!?!" Lady Frigga slapped him across the face.

Loki was speechless, caught fully off guard by his mother's verbal and physical attack as soon as he set foot in her sitting room. He just stared at her in shock.

She closed the small space between them even further, jabbing her finger in his chest. "You know what I am talking about, don't play stupid! That poor girl needs your support and yet you run away! That is not how I raised my sons!"

Loki stumbled back from Frigga's accusations and held his hands up. "Mirilya came to you?"

"She did." Lady Frigga took a step back and crossed her arms. "She did not know what to do when you ran off, so she came to me."   
She glanced over her shoulder and suddenly Loki saw the familiar unruly brown curls peeping over the top of a lounge chair on his mother's balcony. The doors to the balcony were closed and Lady Frigga held him back when he wanted to go to Mirilya. "I took her to the healer, Loki," she said softly, holding his arm.

He sucked in his breath and turned his gaze from Mirilya to his mother. "You know?"

"That I'm gonna be a grandmother? Yes, I know." She kept her face stern, but in her eyes there was a softness.

Loki's shoulders sagged in defeat. "I did something horrible..." he whispered.

"Depends on what you're referring to," Lady Frigga answered sharply. "Running out on her like that was a pretty low thing to do. I thought I had raised you to always face the consequences of your actions."

"You did, mother. I just..." Loki sighed. "I am from Jotunheim, I'm part of a race of monsters. I should have been more careful."

"Yes, I think it's wise to get Mirilya tested thoroughly. I am actually surprised you got her pregnant at all, I would not have expected Jotun DNA to be compatible with that of a Lightelf." She put her hand to Loki's face, stroking the cheek she had hit him on earlier. "But you're not a monster, my dear. You are my son and the king of Asgard. And you're going to be a dad. Now, go make it up to Mirilya. She needs you."

Loki took a couple of deep breaths before he opened the door to the balcony. Mirilya was sitting in a lounge chair, her knees pulled up to her chest. She didn't look up when he closed the door behind him and her back was turned to Loki. He slowly walked up to her chair and stopped when he was next to the backrest. The young woman had her arms wrapped tightly around her knees and lowered her face to her arms, avoiding to look at him. Loki felt a deep regret wash over him, to the point that it almost made his knees buckle. But he had to stay strong, he had treated Mirilya wrong and he needed to do everything that was in his power to make it up to her. Loki put his hand to the nape of her neck, softly stroking his thumb along her hairline. To his relief, she did not shy away from his touch. He whispered her name, not knowing what to say.

"There is a tiny heart beating inside of me." Her voice was barely audible, but it reached Loki's ears like the sound of a battle cry.

He sunk to his knees beside her.  
"I'm am so sorry, my love. I should have been there. I should not have run out on you." He hated he had to apologize to her once more, when he had vouched to never hurt her again after that devastating night. But he had, the monster inside him had hurt her again.

"Why did you ran away?" She lifted her face from her arms to look at him, her golden eyes hard as steel.

"Because... " Loki hesitated, he had trouble finding the words for what he wanted to say. "Because you deserve my love, support and protection, yet I failed you. And now you are carrying my child, a monster's child..." His voice faltered, tears sliding down his face.

"Do you love me?" Mirilya asked, maintaining eye contact.

"Yes. More than anything."

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then believe me when I say you are not a monster. You may have been born as Laufey's son, but you are not your father. You are Loki, king of Asgard. And you are the father of this child." Mirilya took his hand and put it on her stomach. "Don't you ever run away from us again. You hear me? Never!"

It was as if discovering she was going to be a mother had awoken a lioness inside her. She showed a fierceness that may have been always there, but had slumbered until now. Her eyes shone with power, staring Loki down, daring him to contradict her.

So Loki did the only thing he felt he could do. The only thing he should do, not only because she deserved it, but because he loved her. He got on one knee and held her hand in his, the other hand still on her stomach. "Mirilya of Alfheim, love of my life, keeper of my heart, will you marry me?"

Loki could feel his heart beat against his ribs while he waited for her to speak. Self-doubt started to gnaw at him again, as he searched Mirilya's face for her answer.

"Yes," she said after a few moments. "Yes, I will marry you, my love."

Loki leapt up to kiss her, holding her face between his hands. "You have made me a very happy man, darling."

Mirilya tugged at his collar. "I should have kept you hanging for a little longer, you jerk." Her words were harsh, but her smile was not, as was the look in her eyes. The golden sparkle was back, the look he loved so much.

He kissed her again and she answered his kiss eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck. He enveloped her in his arms, leaning them both back in the chair. He positioned himself up on the lounge chair next to her, holding her as close as possible. Mirilya put her head on his chest and sighed contentedly.

"Tell me about your day," Loki said.

Mirilya chuckled. "Will you actually listen this time?"

"I promise." He kissed her temple and leaned back to look her in the face.

After a moment she started to talk. "I panicked when you left. I went looking for you, but I could not find you anywhere. And then I saw your mother in the greenhouse..." Mirilya stops for a minute and Loki nudges her to go on. "She asked me what was wrong and then I just told her everything. Your mother took me to the healer to confirm I was pregnant. She was really sweet, Loki. I was afraid she would be mad, but she wasn't."

Loki kissed her forehead. "Why would anyone get mad at you?" He chuckled when Mirilya slapped him playfully on the chest in response. "Tell me about your visit to the healer."

"She just did a quick check. I could see a heartbeat, Loki! Like a tiny blinker. It was wonderful!"

"I can't wait to see it for myself, love," Loki answered with a smile. Her enthusiasm was endearing, her whole face glowed with happiness. He hated he had to dampen that, but it was important. "Mirilya, love... we need for you to get thoroughly examined by the healer. Because of my... origins."

She nodded seriously and looked at him with big eyes. "I thought about that too. Will you go with me?"

"Of course," Loki answered, holding her even tighter. "We'll do this together."

Loki tried his best to keep his thoughts from spiralling down a trail of worry. He feared for Mirilya's health. Although the Jotuns were humanoid, like most races in the nine realms, they really differed from the Asgardians and Lightelves. Where the people of Asgard and Alfheim were genetically close to each other, other races like from Jotunheim and Svartalfheim were considered much more different. What would the Jotun DNA do to Mirilya's frail body?

There was another concern too. For the healer to know what the possible dangers were in this pregnancy, Loki had to disclose the information about his roots. The people in Asgard knew he was the adopted son, but they did not know their king was actually from Jotunheim. And they could never know, if it was up to him. He trusted the head healer, Lady Eir, to be discreet, she would keep his secret. But, what would the baby look like? It would be hard to hide his lineage if the child inherited his father's blue skin.

He looked up when the balcony door opened. Lady Frigga walked up to them and took a seat on the other lounge chair. "She fell asleep?"

Loki nodded. Mirilya had dozed off against his chest while he was caught up in his own thoughts. 

"She's a sweet girl. I think she's gonna make a wonderful mother." Lady Frigga spoke quietly as not to wake her. "Too bad your father is not with us. He would like to get to know her."

Loki snorted. "Right. As if the Allfather would welcome her into the family," he said coldly. "She is not a princess. There is no strategic advantage in a relationship with her."

"I wish you would not think so badly of your father," Frigga said a little sad. "He really means well, with both of his sons. In the end, he just wants you to be happy."

"That may be the case for you, but I don't believe Odin sees it that way. Especially not now Mirilya is pregnant with my child."

The Allmother shook her head with a smile. "Oh, Loki. You can be so perceptive, except when it comes to yourself. Your father loves you and your brother."

Loki gritted his teeth. It was hard to believe his mother, as he had always felt Odin favoured Thor over him. Loki was always vainly trying to prove himself in the eyes of the Allfather, even now, when he was king of Asgard and Odin was in Odinsleep.

"Your father and I would love to become grandparents. It is wonderful you are giving us that gift now."

Loki arched his eyebrows in disbelief when his mother said that.

But she just smiled and continued. "A child born out of wedlock may be against traditional values, but..."

"I mean to do something about that soon," Loki interrupted her.

Frigga looked up in surprise. "You mean to marry her? A common girl?"

"Yes." He gave his mother an even look. "I am the king. I can do what I want. And I want to marry the mother of my child."


	19. Laufey

After dinner Loki walked back to his rooms with Mirilya on his arm, not really caring anymore if anyone saw them. But the hallways were empty, save for the occasional Einherjar who was standing guard. The royal guards were vowed to protect their king and his family, they would not spread gossip around the castle. However, people would be talking about them shortly anyway. At the ball next week he would announce their engagement. If the people thought Lady Loriana and her guardian were the summit of inappropriate relationships, they would have to think again. Maybe he would put some extra guards in the ballroom, to reinforce his absolute power as King of Asgard. On the other hand, Loki was sure he could do without the Einherjar, being a master of magic had its advantages.

One of the advantages was his power to change outfits at will. He happily exchanged his formal wear for homewear as soon as he was inside his room.   
Mirilya chuckled when the green ripple of magic brushed against her skin. "You really don't like that formal armour, do you?"

He shrugged. "I like it just fine. I just have to wear it more often now that I'm king, so often that it's nice to take it off when I can." He bent down to scoop his girl up in his arms, causing her to gasp in surprise. He kissed her nose, her mouth and trailed his lips down her throat. "Speaking about taking clothes off..."

In a few quick strides he was next to his bed and let Mirilya gently down on top of the covers. He admired her for a few seconds from a distance, before letting his fingers slide down her body, her dress disappearing underneath his magic touch.

"That's cheating," she said with a coy smile, and hooked her finger behind his waistband.

"Not if I do this," Loki chuckled and snapped his fingers to make his outfit disappear too.

"Show off." Mirilya wrapped her arms around his neck as he crawled on top of her.

"Anything to impress the woman I love."

***

Loki waited until Mirilya was sound asleep before he quietly snuck out of bed. He quickly dressed himself in his armour again and took Gungnir with him. He could stow away the staff with his magic, so he didn't have to traipse around with it the whole time. After sealing his room with magic nobody could enter and Mirilya would be safe. He didn't like keeping secrets from her, but it was only for the best that she did not know about his plans for tonight. She would only try to stop him.

The hallways were empty, just like earlier this evening. It was a quiet evening, perfect for the execution of his plan. He strolled through the palace and exited it through a side door in the East wing, which was closest to the stables. While walking, he created a perfect image of himself which he sent off to go inside the stables. Checking up on the horses was something he did more often, anyone who saw him go in the stables tonight would think nothing of it. Invisible to everyone's eyes, even Heimdall's, he steered to the right and went to the dense forest that started a little behind the stables. There were some bridle paths that cut through the forest, but Loki headed to a far less heavily traveled area.

Between two ancient trees, both warped and twisted in a way that made them stand out to the rest of the foliage, was a secret portal into Asgard. Nobody knew about this, except Loki. Years ago, he had found a cryptic note about the portal in an ancient text he was reading. It took some searching, but finally he had found the portal in the woods. It wasn't anything like the Bifrost, you really needed to know your way once inside. If you got lost, you were lost for all eternity. Without hesitation, Loki stepped through the portal and travelled to the barren wasteland that Laufey called his own.

When he returned, he was followed by Laufey and two other Jotuns. The three Frost Giants stepped warily on the forest floor, the fallen leaves rustling under their feet.

"Welcome to Asgard. Leave one of your men here, to guard the portal," Loki ordered. "I will take the two of you to the castle, shrouded by magic."

Laufey exchanged a look with his men, yet did as Loki asked. The Jotun king was eager to take revenge and too full of his own strength, it made him careless. He started off for the castle without waiting for his host. Loki had to pick up his pace to fall in step with the long strides of the two Frost Giants. He led them to a side entrance of the palace and ordered them to wait there.   
"There are guards inside, I will get rid of them but it will take a couple of minutes. Do not go inside without me, you hear me?"

The Jotun warrior growled, not pleased with Loki's authoritative tone of voice, but Laufey shut him up with one movement of his hand. Frost crept up along the palace wall, withering the ivy vines that grew there.   
Laufey pulled himself up to his full height and looked down upon Loki. "We can do as the Asgardian prince says, as long as he leads us to our end goal. Which he will, if he knows what's best for him."

Oh, right. Now the Jotun king would start with the threats. Loki kept his face blank and nodded to Laufey. "I'll be right back."

He stepped inside the door and teleported himself back to the forest as soon as he'd closed the door behind him. The Frost Giant that was left behind to guard the portal paced up and down the small clearing. Loki had to get rid of him before Heimdall would spot the intruder. He was fairly sure the gatekeeper could not see the portal, he never had before, but the Jotun next to it was another story. Loki had made him invisible to most eyes with his magic, but when he had to go inside the palace with Laufey, he needed all his strength with him. So this Frost Giant simply had to go.

Loki worked quickly. He conjured up an image of himself to make the Frost Giant stop in his tracks right in front of the portal. Before the warrior could react, he ran at the Giant at full force, tackling him backwards, into the portal. Loki rolled to the side and the Jotun disappeared inside the portal. From experience, Loki knew the portal had a number of small exits, most of them to meteorites that drifted across the galaxy. He suspected the portal had led to another realm ages ago, a realm that now was nothing more than pieces of barren rock floating through space. There was a way to control the portal, to avoid all the gateways into the void, but the Jotun guard didn't have the knowledge nor power to do that.

Loki teleported back to the palace and opened the door to Laufey and his warrior, who immediately stepped through.

"Took you long enough," Laufey hissed at him in passage. Loki didn't answer and just lead the Jotuns through the hallways, to Odin's chambers.

The closer they got, the colder the air around them became. "Could you please control yourself a little bit?" Loki asked in a displeased tone, looking back at the Jotun king who radiated an icy cold with every step. Laufey just huffed and halted when Loki gave the signal. "Wait here. You'll find Odin inside this room."

"Where will you be?" The Jotun king seemed to finally really look at his Asgardian guide.

"At the other side of the palace."

"You don't want to watch?" An evil smirk crept over Laufey's face, something Loki didn't particularly care for.

"I'll leave the fun to you." He instructed the Jotuns to give him some time to get away from the scene before entering the room. Loki didn't expect Laufey to wait that long, so he had to be quick.

As soon as he rounded the corner he teleported himself inside Odin's room. He quickly made himself invisible when he saw his mother sitting next to the Allfather's bed. What was she doing here?! Lady Frigga was a morning person and usually went to bed early, why was she still sitting at Odin's side?   
She was talking to her husband, probably telling him about her day as she always did. Being in Odinsleep did not hold the Allfather back from knowing what went on around him. But this time it was a long sleep and although Lady Frigga kept her hopes up, Loki had some doubts whether the Allfather would wake up again.

"... both found love. In unexpected places, that I'll have to give you." His mother smiled, clearly pleased. "Thor has found a very special lady friend, Heimdall tells me she's a scientist. Who would have thought Thor would find love in his exile? Well, maybe you knew."

Loki knew the woman his mother was talking about. A Midgardian scientist, called Jane. She had helped Thor when he first came to Midgard and he seemed to have fallen for the mortal. Loki thought it fairly stupid to fall in love with someone whose lifespan was so short, but Thor had always had a weak spot for Midgard and its inhabitants.

Loki tried to decide if he had to teleport his mother out to protect her from Laufey, when his heart suddenly skipped a beat. She was talking to Odin about him.

"You are going to be a grandfather! Our son is giving us a grandchild. Do you remember when we talked about who would be the first to be a father? I thought it would be Thor, but it turns out you were right, again. You would be so proud if you saw how Loki handles all the responsibilities that have fallen to him."

Hidden from view in a corner of the room Loki felt as if all air had escaped him. His heart ached. But there was no time to recover, because suddenly the walls of the room were covered in ice flowers. Loki could see his breath in the cold air when the two Frost Giants stepped into the room. Frigga reacted quickly and courageous, she drew a sword and walked around the bed to the intruders, ready to defend herself and the unconscious Allfather. The Jotun warrior advanced to attack her, but Laufey was too impatient and struck hard at the both of them, sending them flying through the room. To Loki's relief the Frost Giant took the biggest hit, but still his mother lay incapacitated on the floor. She was still conscious, but too dazed to get up.

Laufey walked up to Odin's bed and loomed over the Allfather. "They say you can still hear and see everything that transpires around you," the Jotun king said menacing, an ice dagger forming in his hand. "I hope it's true, so you know your death came by the hand of Laufey!"

The moment Laufey raised the ice dagger to strike at Odin, a blast from Gungnir in his back send him flying. He fell to the floor, not far from Frigga who scrambled out of the way in shock.   
Loki pointed Gungnir again at the Jotun king. "No, your death came by the hand of the son of Odin." The second blast ended the life of Laufey, the king of Jotunheim.

Frigga ran to Loki and threw her arms around him. "You saved him!"


	20. Check up

It didn't take long for the whole palace to be in turmoil. Loki ordered the Einherjar to secure the grounds and clean up the bodies of the two Jotuns.  
"Search everywhere!" he barked. "I want to know how they got in!"

When he saw Brent, he sent his squire to fetch Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. "Meeting in the throne room in ten minutes, be quick about it."

As soon as everyone was set upon their tasks, he went back in Odin's room, where his mother sat next to the Allfather's bed. She stood up to hug him.  
"I'm so glad you were here. If not for you, this would have ended badly."

Loki hugged his mother firmly. "It's alright now. Were you hurt?"

Frigga shook her head. "No, I'm okay. Some bruises maybe, but that's all."

She looked up at her tall son. "How come you were here? I'd thought you would be in bed already."

Loki shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. I was on my way back to my room after a visit to the stables. When I saw the ice flowers on the walls I knew there was something wrong."

"Well, you came in the nick of time, my son. You saved your father," Frigga said and put her head against his chest.

Loki tensed up. Saving a father, killing a father, if he was really honest with himself this evening could have gone different ways. To be able to kill Laufey he lured the Jotun king to Asgard; a defenseless Odin was the ultimate bait. The Frost Giant had deserved his death for abandoning his baby son and for being the reason Loki could not gift Mirilya with a child without possibly endangering her life. However, Loki had been indecisive about the exact moment to end Laufey up until the second he saw the ice dagger go down on Odin. It was not him who saved the Allfather, it was Lady Frigga. If she had not been there, talking about her sons to her husband, there might have been one more death this night.

Lady Sif and the Warriors Three were waiting in the throne room for Loki. He took a seat on the large golden throne and looked down upon the four warriors.  
"My friends," he spoke solemnly, "Jotunheim has again penetrated Asgard's defenses. This time it almost cost my father his life."

"It was a good thing you were there, my King," Volstagg said with a nod of his head.

"Yes, how convenient," Lady Sif remarked coldly.

"Something on your mind, my lady?" Loki glared at her, yet she did not cast her eyes down.

She was about to answer when Fandral stepped forward. "What do you want us to do, my King?"

Loki looked at the insolent female warrior a little longer before he shifted his gaze to Fandral. "I want you four to go to Jotunheim. With Laufey gone, the realm is likely to fall into chaos. I want you to assess the situation and if possible take control. But be careful, they are not to be trusted."

"Do you want us to find out how they got into Asgard, my King?" Fandral asked.

"It would be helpful if you can find the portal, yes. But that is not the main priority, I don't expect another attack now their leader is dead. I want you to be my eyes and ears overthere. For the safety of the Nine Realms we need Jotunheim to be subdued."

"You can count on us, my King," Volstagg spoke, bringing his fist up to his chest. The other warriors did the same, even Lady Sif, although she clearly was angry.

Loki inclined his head at the warriors. "I knew I could, my friends. Report back to me in a couple of days. I wish you safe travels."

When everything was arranged and the palace was back to its usual peace and quiet for the night, Loki went back to his rooms. He found Mirilya still asleep in his bed, oblivious of what had happened. Loki climbed into bed and put an arm around his love. Nuzzling her neck and shoulders, he inhaled deeply.

Mirilya stirred in his arms. "You're cold," she mumbled, "were you up?"

"I was. There was a little crisis," Loki answered softly. "Go back to sleep, my love. Everything is okay now. I'll tell you about it in the morning."

It didn't take long for Mirilya's breathing to fall back to the steady rhythm of sleep. Loki needed a lot longer to fall asleep. For a long time he stared into the dark, lost in a spiral of dark thoughts. He felt like the only thing that kept him sane was the sleeping presence of the woman he loved in his arms.

***

Loki had cleared his schedule for the day so he could go with Mirilya when she went to visit the healer. It had been a short night because of all the commotion of the evening before, but he wanted to be there for Mirilya.

Lady Eir received them very friendly and made them sit down for tea first. She was around his mother's age and Loki had known her all his life. Before he had learned how to heal himself with magic, Lady Eir had often patched up a skinned knee or a cut in his hand. Play with Thor usually ended rough, with Loki often losing out, being the weaker sibling. Things evened out when he became more skilled in using magic and he could counter Thor's brute strength with cunning and tricks. But even then he often ended up needing Lady Eir's healing powers and gentle touch. In some ways she reminded him of his mother, she was very perceptive and a good listener, qualities that were of importance for a healer.

"Now Loki, it's been a long time since I've seen you in my infirmary," Lady Eir remarked.

"The time of skinned knees has been long gone, my lady," Loki countered good humouredly.

"Yes, the boy of then is the king now. Now tell me, what can I do for my king?"

"I think you already know," Loki said and looked pointedly at the young woman at his side.

Lady Eir chuckled. "I can make an educated guess." She smiled at Mirilya. "You want to take another look at the life that's growing inside you?"

Mirilya nodded eagerly. "Yes, please. I want to show Loki."

"Then let's start with that." Loki wasn't sure if Lady Eir had already heard of his relationship with Mirilya yesterday, but if she was surprised she didn't show it. She put her teacup down and stood up, gesturing for them to follow her.

Loki helped Mirilya up on the table and Lady Eir activated the Soul Forge above Mirilya's body. She concentrated the image on the Lightelf's stomach, searching for a second before she pointed out a quirky form with a small blimp inside that blinked rapidly. "There is your baby, my dear," the healer said to her patient.

Mirilya's smile grew wide and she grabbed Loki's hand. "You see? That's the heart!"

"I see it, my love," Loki replied with a squeeze of his hand. The tiny form did not really look like a baby, it was more like a large peanut shell with a pulsating core. Yet somehow that peanut incited an emotional reaction deep inside him. This was his child.

"I wish my mother could see this," Mirilya said softly. She had lost her mother a couple of years ago to an incurable disease and Loki could imagine the loss was felt deeply in moments like this. Her father had died when she was only little and the Alfheim royal family was basically the only family she had left, she once told him.

"I think your mother is looking down upon you, my love. She must be very proud."

Mirilya smiled and brought his hand to her lips for a kiss. She focussed her attention back on the Soul Forge, her eyes softening as they locked upon the little blinker that was their baby's heart.

Lady Eir had grabbed a handheld device on which she accessed her patients records. She was looking from the device to the Soul Forge and back.

"Lady Eir, I'm going to need your absolute discretion on this," Loki told her in a quiet voice, not wanting to disturb Mirilya in her admiration of the tiny life inside her.

The healer looked up at him and then at the joined hands of the two people in front of her. "Of course, my king, that goes without saying."

"Thank you."

Mirilya seemed oblivious of the exchange, she just watched the Soul Forge, a loving smile on her face. "It almost seems bigger than yesterday, but that's probably just my imagination," she said dreamily.

"No, it's not," Lady Eir muttered, tapping the handheld device. "But that should not be possible."

Loki whipped his head around to the healer. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure, my king." Eir had a frown on her face that Loki sure as Hel did not like. "It could be nothing, just a little growth spurt or something. But I would like to take some blood samples, just to be sure."

"Blood? Are you going to poke the baby with a needle?" Mirilya put her hands protectively over her stomach.

The healer smiled. "No, my dear. We don't disturb the baby unless it's absolutely necessary. I just need blood samples from you and the father."

"I think you're going to find mine a little different." Loki didn't like it, but if he wanted to keep Mirilya safe, he had to disclose his parentage to Eir. So he explained his predicament to the healer, who listened intently.

"It certainly explains your accelerated metabolism. You were always fast to heal, even for an Asgardian." Loki was glad Lady Eir was taking this in stride, immediately jumping on to the scientific side of things.

The healer drew a few vials of blood from both of them, and even took a mouth swab from Loki, which he agreed to grudgingly. He knew there was a perfectly good reason for the healer to be this thorough, but it felt like an invasion of his privacy anyway. To put his heritage under a microscope was hard when he had not even come to terms with it himself yet. If he might ever come that far. The unwanted child from one king, who was lied to his whole life by another king, was now the ruler of a realm that considered his race to be the stuff of kid's nightmares. No wonder he felt unhinged. He stroked Mirilya's hair while Lady Eir used the Soul Forge to record some extra data. If it wasn't for the young Lightelf lying on that table, he would have been far worse off, Loki was sure of that.

It would take a couple of days to analyse everything, so Lady Eir asked them to come back in two days. "Then we can see if the fetus has grown again or if today was just a coincidence."

"And what if it has grown?" Mirilya asked, her hands cradling her stomach even though there was no bump of significance yet.

"Then we'll have to monitor this pregnancy very closely," the healer answered.

Loki studied her face, it was an answer without much meaning and he suspected Eir also thought of the possibility of this pregnancy having very grave consequences. Even though Loki did not have much experience with pregnancies and the risks connected to them, he could imagine very vividly what a rapidly growing Frost Giant baby could do to the frail body of a Lightelf. But he could not show his worries to Mirilya, not when he did not know for sure that they would come true. After all, her body had accepted his seed even though that had not seem likely, maybe it would adapt to the pregnancy too.


	21. Keep your enemies close

It had been four days since Loki had sent the Warriors Three and Lady Sif to Jotunheim, they should have been back already. Loki wanted them to return, every day they spent on that blasted rock Laufey used to call his kingdom brought them closer to discovering he was the one who orchestrated the Jotun attacks. Not that he expected the Jotuns to talk to the Asgardian warriors, but who knows what the Frost Giants were talking about amongst themselves. Luckily, the four warriors weren't that fluid in the Jotun language and most Frost Giants only spoke a crude version of the common language that was used to communicate between the nine realms. Still, communication problems aside, the longer the Asgardians stayed on Jotunheim, the bigger the chance they uncovered something they shouldn't. It had been risky to send them there, but also necessary. The Jotun were bound to spiral into chaos now their king was dead, and keeping an eye on that was imperative.

Loki teleported to the round, golden sphere where Heimdall kept watch of the universe.   
"The Warriors Three and Lady Sif are safe, my King," the gatekeeper said as soon as Loki materialized behind him.

Loki suppressed an annoyed sigh at Heimdall's gift of foresight. Nevertheless, the safety of the warriors had not really been his concern. "You're avoiding my real question," Loki observed.

The big, dark man in his golden armour kept silent, his gaze at a point far, far away. Loki went to stand next to him and looked at the vast, star spangled canvas of the universe. "Now, tell me, where are they?"

A few heartbeats went by before Heimdall answered. "Midgard, my King."

"Visiting Thor, are they?" Loki tutted. "That was not their mission."

Again, the watchkeeper kept silent. Loki wondered if he had to seriously doubt Heimdall's loyalty to him. He decided to keep a close eye on him.  
"Show me," he ordered.

The view of the stars was replaced by that of a settlement in the middle of a desert. There were some figures sitting on top of the roof of a low building. Heimdall zoomed in. Seeing Thor stirred up some feelings that Loki pushed down quickly. His brother was dressed in Midgardian attire, looking like a bum. There was nothing regal to him. Yet, he seemed to be enjoying himself, talking and laughing with his Asgardian friends. There was a woman there too, two in fact. One was sitting close to Thor: the female scientist called Jane. The other Loki didn't recognise, didn't need to either; he couldn't care less about some mere mortal that was hanging around with his brother.

Judging by the way the group acted around each other, Loki suspected with great certainty this wasn't the first time the Asgardian warriors visited their friend on Midgard. The two female Midgardians were too much at ease and Fandral wasn't even trying to chat one up, which he certainly would have if it was the first time he met them.

Loki thought about ordering Heimdall to pick up the four warriors immediately, but opening up the Bifrost right now would also mean Thor's return. And he did not want that, the God of Thunder should stay were he was. Loki knew his brother well, he was pretty sure the mortal already held a big place in his heart. Prolonging his stay would only deepen the feelings between Thor and that Midgardian, increasing the chance that his brother might not want to return to Asgard at all. Why else would he stay there anyway? Loki was sure the warriors had told Thor about Odin, by now he surely knew Loki had lied to him. But Thor had not returned to confront him with the lie. Well, Loki could always go to him.  
"Send me to Midgard."

Heimdall obeyed without question and moments later the Bifrost burned an intricate pattern in the desert ground. Travelling like this was fast and foolproof, but you sure drew attention to yourself, coming in like this. Not that it mattered this time, he wasn't planning on going unnoticed. Loki was wearing his armour, helmet and all, determination written all over his face.

It didn't take long for the Asgardians to come to him, Thor walking in front. The four warriors fanned out behind him, it was as if they walked in battle formation. At the back, the two mortals trailed behind. The one called Jane wanted to come closer, babbling on to no-one in particular about the scientific aspects of the Bifrost, but she was held back by her friend.

"Loki," Thor said scornfully, when he halted a few feet from his brother.

"Thor," Loki answered in the same fashion, a small smirk forming on his face.

They stared at each other for a few moments, Loki was pleased when he recognised the hurt in his brother's eyes. Good. Thor's emotions would get the best of him, as always.

"Why did you lie to me?"

There it was, the start of the confrontation. Loki waited a little before answering, reading the emotions that ran across Thor's face. Anger, hurt.

"Answer me, brother!" Thor said, raising his voice. "Why did you make me believe father was dead?"

"He might as well be dead, I don't think he will wake up again. He certainly didn't wake up when Laufey was standing over him, ready to kill him." Loki used his commanding voice, the voice of a king.

"That would have been convenient, right? If Laufey killed father, you would have been sure of the throne! It was you who led the Jotuns to Asgard!"

Loki smirked and conjured up Gungnir in his hand. "Now, brother, why would I do that? The throne is already mine, I don't need to kill Odin."

Thor glared at him. "I should kick that throne out from under you!" he threatened.

"By all means, do try," Loki challenged. "By the way... picked up your hammer yet? No? Didn't think so."

Again, hurt and anger flashed across Thor's face. Lady Sif had a more straight forward reaction: she drew her sword and pointed it at Loki. She had not come closer to him, but her meaning was clear. "Lift up Thor's banishment and we will see who is the rightful king to Asgard!"

Loki planted Gungnir firmly on the ground. "Do I need to remind you who you are speaking to? Better do something about that sharp tongue of yours, Sif, before I will."

Sif gripped her sword firmly and wanted to charge, but she was held back by Thor, who put his arm in front of her. "No, my friend, Loki is right. Father banished me because I was unworthy. And he was right, I was not worthy to be king. Until I am, I should not return to Asgard."

"But," Sif protested confused, yet Thor only shook his head.

"Wise decision, my brother," Loki said. "And from what I see, your time here on Midgard isn't exactly disagreeable. You've got yourself some nice company." He looked pointedly at the mortal, who huffed and did her best impression of an angry glare. "Does she take good care of you?"

"Leave Jane out of this!" His moment of self reflection was gone, Thor was angry again.

His brother was so predictable, pushing his buttons was too easy. "It is you who should have thought about leaving her out of this from the start. But I can see why you did not, she is very easy on the eyes," Loki smirked.

If Thor had his powers, he would have probably smoked Loki with lightning by now, but all he did was ball his fists to his side. "What do you want, Loki? If you just came here to gloat, you can forego of these visits from now on."

"Don't worry, I did not came here for you," Loki said curtly and shifted his gaze to the warriors behind Thor. "I came to see if certain warriors had not forgotten their vows to Asgard."

Loki knew perfectly well Sif's loyalty was with Thor, but the Warriors Three used to hold their pledge to the throne of Asgard in high esteem. As of right now, he could see them glance at each other and he knew they would come with him.

Fandral was the first to speak up. "Come, my lady, let us return to Asgard." Sif angrily whipped her head around to glare at him, but Fandral remained calm and spoke softly to her. "We can't help Thor from here. Might as well go back to Asgard and keep an eye on things there."

Although Loki perfectly understood the hidden implications of what Fandral said, he chose to let it go for now. He would gladly leave them all on Midgard, but the Warriors Three and Lady Sif did have their use for Asgard. What was that saying again? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And keep your brother in another realm.

"Seal off the Bifrost," Loki ordered as soon he set foot on Asgard again, followed by four sulky warriors. "Nobody gets in or out."


	22. The difference between men and women

Mirilya stood in front of the large mirror, turning from side to side with her hands on her bare stomach. "Unbelievable," she mumbled, shifting her hands over the rounded shape of her belly.

Loki watched her from his seat at his desk. Although she looked beautiful, especially now her pregnancy started to show more and more, he couldn't help but worry. Lady Eir kept a close eye on Mirilya and the baby and up until now the fetus was doing fine, the only thing different was the speed at which the baby was developing. The healer had told them she expected this pregnancy to be shorter than the standard of forty weeks. Not even two months in, Mirilya already looked like she was almost four months pregnant.

Loki left his work on his desk and walked over to Mirilya. He placed his hands over hers, wrapping his arms around her from behind. Her golden eyes looked at him in the mirror and he forced himself to smile. Dark rings circled her eyes and her cheeks were a little hollow.

"You should be resting, my love," he said, kissing her hair.

"It's all I ever do," she said in a whiny voice. "You are even worse than Lady Eir, you don't let me do anything!"

"I just want you to be safe. You, and the baby."

"I know," Mirilya sighed. "It's just, I get bored."

Loki put his chin on her shoulder, ignoring the fact that her bones were more present than before, and held her close.   
"Have you eaten something already?" Her breakfast from this morning went back to the kitchens untouched. After their first visit to the healer the morning sickness became worse, she couldn't keep anything down. Lady Eir had given her some medicine, but it didn't help much.

"You should eat, you need your strength for the ball tonight. I can't dance with you if you are dizzy because you have not eaten," Loki said, masking the pain in his voice with a playful tone.

Lady Loriana came to visit shortly after and to Loki's relief she brought a basket with food with her.   
"I thought we could picnic on the balcony," the Alfheim princess announced, holding the wicker basket up for Mirilya. Her friend peeked in the basket and was delighted about the contents.

Mirilya had told the princess about her pregnancy after Lady Eir had confirmed them the baby was growing faster than normal. The young woman needed someone other than Loki to share her feelings with and who was better than her childhood friend? Lady Frigga also kept a close eye on Mirilya, treating her already as her daughter in law.

"Now, my King, out you go," Lady Loriana said to him, shooing him off. "There will be lady talk and dressing up and some more lady talk, so we don't need you here!"

He let himself get ushered out by the ladies, but gripped the door before Loriana closed it behind him.   
"Keep an eye on her, will you? Make sure she eats and rests," he said quietly to the Alfheim princess.

Loriana smiled a tight lipped smile, her eyes serious. "Don't worry, Loki. I will."

He knew the princess shared his worries, she had even talked to Mirilya about terminating the pregnancy. Loki had thought about that too, but Mirilya was determined to keep the baby. She kept repeating everything was going to be alright and she kept smiling despite the morning sickness and the drain on her energy.

Loki wandered the halls a little before he got to the throne room. The servants were busy decorating the great hall for the ball that evening. Loki spotted his mother giving instructions to a couple of men who stood on ladders to hang large banners from the ceiling. There were the familiar banners of Asgard, in red and gold, but tonight they would be accompanied by the blue, green and silver banners of Alfheim.

The queen of Alfheim had arrived two days ago, to celebrate with them. Her husband didn't come with her, he was otherwise occupied. She was overseeing the work in the hall too, dressed in a typical Alfheim gown with the pointed sleeves. When he got next to her she inclined her head at him and greeted him politely.

"Queen Aylina, you look beautiful as always," Loki said, kissing her hand lightly.

"And your silver tongue is as charming as everyone says it is," the Alfheim queen answered with a smile.

The whole situation with Lady Loriana and her guardian and Mirilya's pregnancy had brought the parties involved closer together. Having to share intimate details made friends out of strangers and the Alfheim ladies were quick to become familiar with him. Loki did however keep his Jotun descent under wraps as much as possible. Lady Loriana and her mother knew that Mirilya's condition was caused by something in Loki's biological ancestry, but they did not knew he was Jotun. There were only four people that knew that the late Laufey was his real father, and one of them was in Odinsleep.

"Tell me, Loki, how are my girls today?" Lady Aylina asked. Although Mirilya wasn't her daughter or even related to her, Loki had quickly learned the queen treated her like family.

"They're having a picnic on the balcony," he said. "They kicked me out."

The queen chuckled. "I bet they did. Girls only." She nudged him with her elbow. "Better get used to that, young man. It won't be any different when your daughter is born."

Loki watched the queen in surprise. "You think it will be a girl?"

Lady Aylina nodded. "I know so."

"It's a little early to tell, don't you think?" Although he was sceptical about the queen's premonition, Loki couldn't help but feel a warm glow spread through his body at the thought of having a daughter.

"Just wait and see. I'm rarely wrong about these things." The Alfheim queen smiled a little mysterious, a contrast with her normal forward conduct.

When his mother joined them the conversation turned to decorations and babies, until Loki had enough. "That's it. I'll turn into a woman if I stay here any longer. I'll be off to the sparring grounds," he grumbled jokingly, taking his leave from his mother and her friend.

At the training grounds he found the Alfheim lords Bredun and Mordan, warming up for a round of practice. "Do you men mind if I join you?"

They assured him he was welcome to join them. "Shall I get you some armour, my King?" Lord Bredun asked, gesturing to Loki's formal attire.

"No need to," Loki smirked and a green ripple of light passed over him as he changed into his leather armour.

Although the Alfheim lords did their best to hide their unease, Loki could see it in their eyes. There was a difference between knowing he was a master of magic and seeing it with their own eyes, he knew that.  
"Don't worry," Loki chuckled. "I'll fight with the weapon of your choice, nothing else."

Lord Mordan handed him a broadsword and Loki swung the weapon around a couple of times to get a feel of it again. Although he was trained in using the sword, he preferred his daggers and magic when it came to real combat. But this fight wasn't about winning, if anything, Loki could gain some useful information and experience from it. He had seen the Alfheim warriors fight each other on the sparring grounds during their time on Asgard, but he had not yet had the chance to fight them himself.

Loki and Lord Mordan were the first to enter the ring. They took a stance and on Lord Bredun's signal the fight started. The first round Loki tried to keep his distance, but the Alfheim lord was quick and light on his feet and managed to dart under Loki's defence once, pointing the blunt sword to his armpit.

"Best out of three?" Loki replied graciously, taking a stance again.

The second round was for Loki, now better at calculating his opponents movements. He was able to hit the other warrior across the back, using the flat of his sword. The third round was a lot more difficult. Both warriors used speed and agility at an equal measure, darting back and forth at each other. Loki wished he had his daggers instead of this long sword that gave him a bigger outswing, he liked his combat more up close.

Ducking low for a strike from Lord Bredun, he rolled over the sandy ground, followed by another strike of the Alfheim warrior. The broadsword speared the ground just next to his side, but Loki's arm was already up, his own sword dangerously close to Lord Mordan's neck.

Loki grinned from his position on the floor. "Let's call it a draw, shall we?"

Mordan agreed and pulled his sword from the sand. He extended a hand for Loki, but the Asgardian jumped lightly to his feet without help.

"You are a worthy opponent, my lord," Loki said sincerely. He turned to Lord Bredun. "How are your skills with the sword?"

The Alfheim warrior put his hands up, palms forward. "I'm afraid you fought the better swordsman of us already, my King."

"Did I now? Then where lies your strong point?"

"I'm an excellent marksman, my King," Lord Bredun said without a hint of boasting.

"I'd like to see that." Loki gestured to the targets at the other side of the training grounds.

The three men walked over and Lord Bredun picked up a bow and arrows from the rack. He tested the bow to get a feel of it, but soon the first arrow flew to the target. It landed just a little off center, a small mistake caused by his unfamiliarity with the bow, that the Alfheim lord corrected by sending a second arrow straight through the bullseye. He shot another couple of arrows, making a V-shaped pattern on the target.

"Do you want to see a little trick, my King?" Lord Mordan asked, a rope already in his hands.

Loki smirked. "I love tricks."

The Alfheim lord made three big knots in the rope, each about a feet apart. He strung the rope up against the trunk of a tree, the knots hanging down against the bark.   
Lord Bredun knocked an arrow and aimed. In a matter of seconds, three arrows flew through the air, hitting the rope between the knots. One by one the knots fell to the ground, the lowest first.

Loki applauded Lord Bredun with this display of skills. "A nice trick indeed, my lord."   
He stepped forward and positioned himself in front of the three, holding one of the severed knots dangling from his fist.  
"Now, try again."

"Excuse me, my King?" Lord Bredun was wide eyed with confusion. "I'm not going to shoot you."

"You are not going to hurt me, my lord. I want to show you a trick too."

It took some persuasion, but eventually Lord Bredun knocked a new arrow and aimed at Loki. "I don't like this," he muttered to his companion, who also looked a little uneasy with the situation. 

Their little display had gathered the attention from other men on the training grounds too, and a small crowd had gathered to watch what their king and the Alfheim warriors were up to.

"Two arrows, please. One breath apart," Loki instructed Lord Bredun. The time between was not strictly necessary, but it would make for a better show. There's no fun in tricks when they are too fast for the naked eye to follow.

The Alfheim warrior nodded and took a stance. On Loki's suggestion Lord Mordan pushed the crowd back a little, the people obliging willingly.   
Loki watched the arrowhead that was aimed at him. He held the rope with the knot in front of his chest and took a deep breath, focussing his attention on the archer.

Who listened closely could hear the arrow whirr through the air. And straight through Loki. With a loud thud the arrow hit the bark, spearing the knot to the tree, the illusion of the king disappearing in a green mist. Like Loki expected Lord Bredun didn't faze and aimed his second arrow a little to the right, where the Asgardian king was standing now. The arrow flew and Loki caught the shaft in his clenched fist, stopping the arrow in mid air, a couple of inches from his chest.

Lord Bredun was dumbfounded, but soon smirked. "I guess there's a reason why they call you the Trickster, my King."


	23. The ball - part 1

"If you keep on squeezing like that, I'm gonna lose function in my fingers," Loki jested softly.

"Oh, sorry." Mirilya loosened the grip on his hand, but she kept fidgeting. She wore an emerald green dress that was made especially for her. It hugged her upper body thight, but flowed down freely from just below her breasts. The chest was decorated in an intricate beading pattern, with a stylised outline of his horned helmet in the middle. That had been a suggestion from Mirilya herself. There were several new dresses made for her, to update her wardrobe, and by Loki's request they were all quite simple. She didn't need elaborate dresses to look beautiful, the way she carried herself made everything she wore elegant.

Loki made her turn to him and took both of her hands in his. "Love, you don't have to be nervous. You look beautiful and everyone is going to love you."

She seemed to doubt that, so he held up her hands to his face and kissed her fingers one by one. "You are my love, the mother of my unborn child and you're soon to be my queen. Now, relax, it's a party. There's food and drinks, there's dancing, and people are coming here to have a good time."

"I know," Mirilya said. "I just wish I didn't have to walk in with everyone watching me."

The door opened and Lady Loriana and Lord Hergund came in, followed by Lady Frigga and queen Aylina.

"See? There's more people to share the attention with," Loki said, and inclined his head to their new company in the back room to the great hall where the ball was being held. "People will stare at you for maybe five minutes and then they'll return to drinking and partying."

Loriana walked up to Mirilya and hugged her friend. "Nervous?" asked the Alfheim princess. She was wearing a light blue gown with a small train. The colour of her dress came back in the details of Lord Hergunds cream coloured attire.

Mirilya nodded, swallowing visibly. "Yes. Very nervous."

"Don't worry, my dear," said queen Aylina, smiling at the two young women. "The scary part is over before you know it."

Mirilya grimaced until Loki kissed her frown away, not caring that he was doing it in front of everyone.

The Allmother coughed politely. "Let's not keep our guests waiting, my dear."

Loki held out a hand to each of the two highest ranking women in his company. One of the Einherjar knocked on the door to alert the herald to the King's entrance, so he could address the guests in the throne room to announce the King, his mother and the queen of Alfheim. Loki led his two ladies to the base of the steps to the throne, leaving them on each side, while he himself went to stand a couple of steps up.

The herald then announced the entrance of Lady Loriana, Lord Hergund and Lady Mirilya. The Alfheim royal couple had recently bestowed her with a title to help her advancement among the Asgardian nobility.

Loki stepped down to the floor to receive the three Lightelves with all the egards he could give them. A soft murmur went through the throne room when he greeted Lady Loriana and Lord Hergund as a couple, placing his hand over their joined hands shortly. This act was an official support of their union, a last confirmation of a fact that the people of Asgard had slowly been getting used to in the past weeks. The rumours about the couple had dwindled down, making room for more rumours about the king and his paramour. Well, those rumours were about to be crushed too. 

Loki extended his hand to Mirilya, giving her a loving smile. When she took his hand, he walked back with her to the steps to the throne. Loki didn't go all the way up, just a few steps to put himself in the highest position in the room, literally and figuratively. Mirilya went with him and stopped just one step below him. They turned to the room and Loki waited a few seconds before speaking, letting the meaning of their positions sink in with his audience. A murmur ran across the room, bouncing back and forth. Most people just looked astonished, some of them remained neutral, but a couple of people looked angry. One of them was Lady Sif, which was no surprise to Loki. She probably did not have a problem with Mirilya personally, she was just mad at Loki for not terminating Thor's banishment.

Loki spread his arms. "Friends, allies, my fellow Asgardians. Tonight we celebrate our long standing connection with the realm of Alfheim. A connection that grows stronger with the day." He looked pointedly at Mirilya before he continued. "I am pleased to call princess Loriana and Lord Hergund my friends. And I am even more pleased to introduce Lady Mirilya to you as your future queen."

A shocked murmur went around the throne room before Lady Frigga put her hands together in celebratory applause. Others quickly followed the Allmother's example and soon everybody applauded, be it somewhat forced. Loki had not expected his announcement to go down easy, but as always his mother smoothed the way.

He put his hand on Mirilya's shoulder, giving her a slight squeeze before he directed his attention back to the room. "It's a night of celebration. Eat, drink, dance. Enjoy yourselves!"

It took a couple of minutes before the guests got back into the party spirit, but Vollstag attacked the buffet like nothing happened and Fandral asked a girl to dance with him before the first song ended. The other guests fell back into their normal behaviour too, dispersing themselves around the room.

"See, my dears? That went rather well," Lady Frigga said, smiling at Loki and Mirilya who were standing at the base of the throne. Loki had his arm around Mirilya's waist, the girl was still trembling a bit from the nerves.

"All thanks to you, mother," Loki replied gracefully.

"Nonsense. You've got yourself a lovely girl here, and you are a good king." Frigga leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Now, go and enjoy yourself, just like you ordered the other guests to do."

When his mother left to talk to some of the guests, Loki pulled Mirilya closer. She was still incredibly tense. "It's over, my love. You can relax now."

She looked up to him, her face pale. "They only applauded because of your mother..." Her voice trailed off.

"Don't think about that. I don't care what everybody thinks and you shouldn't either. When we get married you'll be the queen of Asgard, you're above them all. Don't let them get you down." Loki spoke in a hushed voice, his eyes piercing hers. He really wanted her to believe what he was telling her, of all the things she had to worry about, the opinion of his subjects was the last thing he wanted her to dwell upon.   
"Come, I want to dance with you," Loki said, gently leading her towards the center of the room. Mirilya let him guide her and soon they glided across the dancefloor.

Loki took it slow, all his attention focussed on the girl in his arms. The precious bump underneath her dress pressed against his body every time he pulled her close for a spin.

"I don't think I ever danced with two persons at once," he whispered in her ear.

Mirilya seemed confused for a second, but comprehension soon lit up her eyes.   
"What do you think it will be?"

"Queen Aylina seems convinced it will be a girl," Loki answered, not able to hold back a broad smile.

"Yes, she said the same thing to me. You know, she is rarely wrong about these things."

Loki could feel his future wife relax more and more in his arms, forgetting her distress from earlier. Her features softened and it was as if he was looking down upon an angel.   
"Do you think it is a girl?" Loki asked her.

She was quiet for a minute. "Yes, I do," she said eventually. "I don't know why, it's just some gut feeling I guess."

"Well, considering the baby is close to where that gut feeling comes from, you might be right," Loki chuckled.

Mirilya playfully scrunched up her nose in response, smiling at him. Round and round the ballroom they went, weaving their way around the other dancing couples. As king and host, Loki should divide his attention and dance with other guests too, but for now he only wanted to dance with his girls.

"Have you thought about a name yet?" he asked her.

"Aurora," she replied immediately. "After my mother."

"Aurora." Loki let the name roll over his tongue. "That's a beautiful name for a girl. Princess Aurora of Asgard."

"Aurora Lokisdottir," Mirilya said, beaming at him.

Loki leaned in for a short kiss. "She'll be a force to be reckoned with."

They danced some more, until he felt Mirilya leaning upon him more for support. "Are you getting tired, my love?"

She nodded and Loki quickly led them to the side of the dancefloor. Queen Aylina and Lord Bredun were sitting at one of the tables, talking to some of the Asgardian guests. The Alfheim lord stood up from his chair when he saw them approach and offered his seat to Mirilya. Loki gestured to some servants to get them something to drink.

"All that dancing makes you thirsty, does it not?" the queen remarked with a smile.

"It does," Mirilya said, downing her drink a little faster than was considered appropriate.

When Loki saw how pale she was, he scolded himself for dancing with her too long. He should have known better. The pregnancy really was taking a toll on her, even though Mirilya tried to act like nothing was the matter.

But he also saw his mother from across the room, signalling him with her eyes that he had to mingle with the guests. He bend over to Mirilya and whispered in her ear. "Just sit and rest, my love. I have to entertain the guests. I'll be back." He kissed her cheek before he excused himself from his company.

Before he went to talk to other guests, he called for his squire. Brent immediately popped up next to him. Somehow that young man seemed to blend in with his environment, he was there all the time, but you easily overlooked him.

"Take care of your sister for me, Brent. She's tired and she could probably use something to eat too. Let me know if she wants to go back to her room."

"Yes, my King."

Mirilya's brother had still not talked to Loki about his sister. Not that Loki wanted to discuss his love life with his squire, but now Mirilya was pregnant it was to be expected that her brother would say something to the man who was responsible. Yet Brent had not confronted Loki, he just continued to do his job as he did before and he looked after his sister too. Maybe he was not overly enthusiastic, but Brent showed no signs he was against their coupling. Loki took that as support for their relationship.

While Loki made his way around the room, he kept an eye on Mirilya. She was accompanied by at least one of the Alfheim guests all the time, they all knew about her condition. And it would not be long before everyone else would know too. In this loose fitting dress the bump was not visible unless you knew what to look for, but before long she would not be able to hide it anymore. The baby was growing fast.


	24. The ball - part 2

A group of Asgardian ladies called for Loki's attention, Lady Brigitta being one of them. They were all of his mother's generation, Loki grew up with their sons and daughters.  
"Good evening, ladies," Loki greeted them. "Are you having a good time?"

"Of course, my King. Your mother always throws the best parties. Great music, great food, dancing, handsome men in their best attire, what is there not to love?" Lady Hildegard said to Loki, a glass of wine in her hand. Judging by her rosy cheeks and pretty bold remark, it was not her first drink. The other women also seemed to be drinking at a steady pace, enjoying a night out at the palace.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourselves," Loki answered with a smile. "It has been a while since we last had a ball in the palace."

"Yes, a party was long overdue," one of the women said jokingly. He couldn't recall her name, but he remembered her son. A big guy, strong too, brains the size of a walnut.

"You sure know how to surprise us, my King," Lady Brigitta said pleasantly. "Little did we know you picked an Alfheim bride after all!"

"Well, father meant for me to marry to strengthen our alliance with the realm of the Lightelves. I'm merely following up on his wishes."

"I think your father wanted you to marry a princess, my King," Lady Brigitta remarked, keeping a keen eye on Loki's reaction.

Loki smiled at the women in front of him. He would have preferred not to talk to his subjects about his choices, for that was what they were: his choices. But it was inevitable: if he wanted Mirilya to be his queen, the people would have something to say about it. And he would be wise to listen to what they had to say, so he could counter it in the right way. Especially at a night like this. If he went about it the right way, he would be able to ease Mirilya into the Asgardian society without much difficulty.

"Lady Mirilya might not have been born into royalty, but the queen of Alfheim thinks of her almost as a daughter. And princess Loriana sure thinks of her as a sister," Loki told Lady Brigitta, making sure he also looked the other women in the eyes.  
"You've spent some time with her earlier this week, didn't you?" he asked his mother's old friend.

"Yes, I did actually! At your mother's invitation I spent an afternoon with the princess and your betrothed, learning about Alfheim needlepoint techniques."

Apparently not all of the women had heard that story already, because there were some surprised reactions to Lady Brigitta's remark. And because the lady loved being at the center of attention, talking about other people, she quickly started telling her friends all about her crafty afternoon.

Loki listened for some time and added to the conversation every once in a while. The Alfheim girls had been very friendly to Lady Brigitta and she had indeed learned some new skills from them. Because of that, she was really positive in her remarks about Mirilya and that rubbed off on her friends. When Loki finally excused himself from the group of women he was pretty sure they had a favourable look upon his plan to make Mirilya his queen.

Loki had more conversations like that during the evening. He was pretty sure he managed to turn them in his favour every time; most people seemed to accept the whole thing quite well once they had talked to him about it.  
He knew his mother and queen Aylina had been doing the same thing, getting people to voice their possible concerns about the king's choice and then trying to smooth things over. It seemed they were pretty successful: as the evening progressed, Loki noticed he didn't have to talk so much about Mirilya anymore.

When he spotted her green dress a little behind Lord Walverling, he excused himself to the general and made his way over to Mirilya. She was standing with her back to him, talking to Lady Loriana and Lord Hergund. When Loki snaked his arms around her waist from behind, he could just hear the princess telling Mirilya she should go lie down.

"I think that's a good idea, it's getting late," Loki said, pulling Mirilya close against his chest. When she looked up to him, he put a small kiss on her pouting lips. "Don't look at me like that, you know we're right."

Mirilya scrunched up her nose, but nodded anyway. And as if on cue, she yawned.

"See? Let's get you to bed," Loki chuckled.

"Are you coming with me?" she asked hopefully.

Loki shook his head. "I'm sorry, my love. The host can't leave the party early." He leaned down to whisper in her ear, his lips grazing her skin. "Not even when I would love to get you out of that dress and into my bed right now."

He turned his head to look over his shoulder, finding Brent standing there. "Will you escort your sister back to our rooms, please? You can turn in for the night too, if you want. I will not be needing you anymore."

"Yes, my king. Thank you." Brent walked up to his sister and offered her his arm.

Together with Lady Loriana and Lord Hergund he watched Mirilya leave the room.

"She'll be feeling sorry tomorrow," the princess said in a concerned voice. "I told Miri to leave the party multiple times already, but she wanted to stay as long as possible. I'm glad she listened to you."

Loki hummed his agreement. "Although I'm not so sure about her listening to me, she's pretty stubborn. She must have been really tired to give in now."

"The pregnancy isn't easy on her," Lord Hergund said, surprising Loki with his comment on the matter. The Alfheim lord had never talked about it before. "I can't remember seeing my sisters like this, not this early in the pregnancy."

"Lady Eir is watching her closely," Loki said tersely, frowning at Lord Hergund.

Lady Loriana quickly stepped in, putting her hand on Loki's arm shortly. "We're all keeping an eye on her. She needs rest and healthy nutrition, if she gets that, I'm sure she'll be fine."

"You're right, my dear. Surely, Mirilya is in good hands." Lord Hergund nodded gravely, as if to underline his statement.

A new song came on and the Alfheim couple went over to the dancefloor, while Loki sauntered over to the buffet. He found Volstagg there, munching on some small quail pies.

"Evening, my King," the warrior said, swallowing his food. "My compliments for the catering this evening."

"I don't think it takes much to please you," Loki huffed, grabbing a drink from the table.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Volstagg replied with a chuckle, waving one of the pies from his plate back and forth in his hand.

Behind the rotund warrior were Hogun and Lady Sif, standing a little away from all the festivities. Loki raised his glass to them with a smirk. "I don't think I've seen you dancing yet, my Lady. Are there no suitable dance partners for you here?"

The female warrior glared angrily at him, but Loki just grinned back. The only times Sif danced, was when Thor asked her to.   
Loki wanted to walk away, but halted when he heard Sif's voice behind him.

"I don't know how you've done it, but you are behind everything. I just know it!"

He turned back to face her, Sif looked like she was ready to pound on him. Hogun seemed to expect that too, sliding closer to her to be able to contain her if she really got it in her head to jump the king. Loki was fed up with her behaviour, he should have left her on Midgard. All she did was glare at him from across a room and make accusations.

"I did not banish Thor. I did not put the Allfather in Odinsleep. And I killed Laufey when he wanted to murder father," Loki stated between clenched teeth. "I don't know why you are so hellbent on me being the bad guy, but it's really getting old, Sif."

"You seem to be the one profiting from everything, that's why! You've got the crown, you conveniently keep your brother away from Asgard and now you're also marrying a girl your father would never approve of!" Sif spat at him, her fists clenched to her side. "I don't know how you did it, but you're the one who cooked this up! I'm sure of that!"

"Enough!" Loki roared, startling a few people who were within hearing distance. "Lord Hogun, escort Lady Sif back to her room. Until she learns how to talk to her king properly, she will stay in her room."   
Loki beckoned two guards. "Make sure Lady Sif doesn't leave her room. She is on house arrest, effective immediately."

Sif snarled at him, but Hogun had a firm grip on her arm. He also glared at Loki, but didn't say anything and escorted Sif out of the throne room, followed by the two Einherjar.

Loki looked sharply at Volstagg, who had forgotten to chew when he watched the incident. The large man quickly swallowed his food and turned back to the buffet, avoiding Loki's gaze.

Loki knocked back his drink in one big gulp and plastered a smile on his face to nodd friendly at the people who passed him. He should have left Sif behind on Midgard. Or maybe Jotunheim, she really needed to cool down.


	25. Touch

When Loki crawled into bed in the wee hours of the morning, he folded his lithe body around Mirilya. She was asleep and didn't notice him getting in the bed with her. Her body was a strange accumulation of contradictions nowadays. Her round tummy and full breasts were soft and tense at the same time, their round shapes in stark contrast with her skinny arms and shoulders where you could feel the bones move under her skin. The lines of her face had become more defined too, as a result of the morning sickness and constant drain on her energy. But her hair seemed thicker and had a healthy shine, framing her face and smoothing out the harsher line of her jaw. He admired how she bore the discomforts of her pregnancy, the sparkle in her eyes had not diminished despite it all. She really tried to listen to all the good advice and by now she surely had read most of the books in his room. Loki made a mental note to take her to the large library of the palace the next day, so she could stack up on new reading material to help pass the time.

Loki eased his hand carefully under the thin material of Mirilya's night shift, softly caressing the bare skin of her rounded stomach. According to Lady Eir the baby had a lot of room to play at the moment and a couple of days ago Mirilya had seen the baby turn over at the Soul Forge image. She told Loki their child was already good at doing summersaults. Mirilya felt the baby move a couple of times a day since this week, but only on the inside of her body. He placed his hand just below her bellybutton, spreading his fingers across the skin. There, somewhere under his hand, was his child. The child that made him worry almost constantly about its mother, that made him look at the future anxiously and that made him hate his own origins. But it was also the child that made him feel proud, that made him love Mirilya even more, and that gave him the need to rise above himself, to be a better man. That child was there, somewhere below his hand, somewhere below the steady rise and fall of Mirilya's stomach.

Suddenly, Loki felt a small push against his hand, as if someone poked with a finger at the palm of his hand. He applied a little more pressure with the flat of his hand and sure enough, there was that little push again. Loki pushed himself up on his elbow and pressed again, waiting for the baby to react. He had to wait a little longer this time, but there it was. A warm glow spread through his body and Loki felt his cheeks ache from the width of his smile.

"What are you two doing?" mumbled Mirilya sleepily.

"I'm sorry," said Loki in a half-whisper. "Did we wake up mommy?"

"You did - oh! That was a good one!" Mirilya grimaced a little when Loki felt a push against his hand again, harder than the others had been.

He rolled Mirilya on her back and placed his lips against her stomach, right next to his hand. "Be nice to your mother, little one. We can go roughhousing all you want once you're out."

"She's never been so active before," Mirilya said with a smile, folding her hands over Loki's on her stomach. "Did you do something?"

Loki propped himself up on his elbow again, nuzzling Mirilya's cheek and throat. "With my magic, you mean? No, I just put my hand on your stomach. And I was thinking about her, maybe she felt that."

"She likes you." Mirilya kissed him, smiling against his lips.

"Not as much as I like her mother." Loki directed his attention from the baby to Mirilya, kissing her passionately.

The young Lightelf reacted eagerly to his touch, arching her body up under his hands and lips. Loki went about it slowly, kissing and caressing Mirilya until she all but dissolved under his hands. Then, and only then, he positioned himself between her legs, slowly entering her warmth. She was his queen and he worshipped her with his whole body, like she deserved. 

The next morning they slept in. Breakfast became brunch, brought in by Liselore. The handmaiden had recently returned in Loki's service, seeing as Mirilya had to rest as much as possible. Loki also didn't want Mirilya to do house work, that was not fitting for a future queen.

Mirilya just slipped out of bed when Loki came out of the bathroom, bathed and dressed. Liselore helped her in her robe, the baby bump clearly visible in Mirilya's night shift. When she caught Loki's inquisitive gaze, the young Lightelf chuckled. "Relax, Loki. She knows all about it."

Loki arched his eyebrows, but he wasn't too worried. Liselore had been his handmaiden for ages, she was very trustworthy.

"Congratulations, my King," Liselore said, smirking a little. The look on her face told him she was happy for him.

Loki smirked back, completely relaxed again, and seated himself at the table at the balcony. While they ate, Liselore quietly made the bed and cleaned up a little. After that she helped Mirilya to dress, something the Lightelf yet had to become accustomed too.

First thing on the program for that day was a visit to Lady Eir. Mirilya visited the healer regularly for her check ups and often did that alone or accompanied by Lady Loriana, as Loki was too busy to go with her most times. But he tried to go with her every now and then, as he did this morning.

The Soul Forge showed them a sleeping baby, curled up inside the uterus.   
"Aww, look Loki, she has her thumb in her mouth!" cooed Mirilya happily.

Loki wasn't sure if the baby really was sucking its thumb, but the small hand pressed against the face at least suggested it.

"You think it's a she?" Lady Eir smiled down at her patient on the table.

Mirilya nodded. "Just a feeling. Can you see the sex already?"

"I might be able to see it, yes, there was another growth spurt. If the baby works with us a little, I think I can tell you if it's a he or a she." Lady Eir looked from Mirilya to Loki. "Would you like to know?"

Loki looked at Mirilya, who watched him with big eyes, not trying to hide her enthusiasm.   
"Sure, let's see if it's a prince or a princess."

Lady Eir adjusted the Soul Forge a couple of times to try and get a better view, but eventually she gave up.  
"The way the baby is positioned right now, I can't get a clear view. Maybe we can get a look next time, when the baby is awake."

"Oh..." Mirilya looked disappointed, but then clearly thought of something, perking up immediately. "Loki can wake her up!"

"Shouldn't we let her, or him, sleep?" Loki shook his head with a smile.

"She'll fall asleep again when we walk back, I'm sure of it. Come on, give me your hand." Mirilya reached for his right hand and placed it over her stomach.

Loki flattened his hand against her warm skin, watching the image of the baby on the Soul Forge. Just like last night, he applied a little bit of pressure. It only took a couple of seconds before the baby stirred, waking up. Loki watched in awe how the baby wriggled a bit and then pushed out a knee, which he could feel under his hand. Tears pricked in the corners of his eyes and Mirilya tightly held on to his forearm.

"It's a girl," Lady Eir said, watching the image of the baby. "You were right."

"A girl..." repeated Loki quietly. He would become the father of a daughter. His daughter, Aurora.

The healer left them alone for a couple of minutes, letting the knowledge sink in. When she returned to the room, she made Mirilya sit up again and started questioning her about her health. The baby was still growing rapidly, which worried the healer. "She is feeding from you and she does it at a much faster pace than usual. I'm actually surprised you only complain about morning sickness and fatigue up until now."

"I'm trying to get as much rest as possible. And between Loki, Loriana and my handmaiden, there's no way I can forget about eating healthy."

Lady Eir tapped the tablet with Mirilya's file, opening a diagram with a climbing line. "To be sure, I'd like to take some blood from you. And I need a urine sample tomorrow, before breakfast."

"What do you need that for?" Mirilya asked, a worried look creeping over her face.

"To check for eclampsia, I think?" Loki said, checking with Lady Eir, who nodded in agreement.

"Your blood pressure is slightly up because of the strain on your body. That in itself is not an immediate point of concern, but high blood pressure can lead to a lot of complications, eclampsia being the worst of it," Lady Eir explained to them.

Loki had read up on the risks of the pregnancy, something he forbade Mirilya. So he knew exactly what Lady Eir was talking about, but Mirilya was still a bit confused.

"In the most severe form, eclampsia can lead to cerebral hemorrhage, a bleeding in the brain," the healer continued. "It's a life threatening situation."

Mirilya went pale around the nose and Loki sat down next to her on the table, putting his arm around her. He gave the healer a stern look, not happy with the way she conveyed the message. "That's just a worst case scenario, my love, don't worry. But the milder forms are also far from an improvement to your health. All the more reason to make sure we're one step ahead of these things, so we can nip 'm in the bud."

"That's right, my dear," Lady Eir added in a chipper voice. "You're fine now. Let's keep it that way."


	26. A portal with a view

Loki was meeting his mother and Mirilya for tea on the Allmother's balcony, a nice break in his full schedule for the day. They were talking about the wedding. Loki wanted to get married as fast as possible, for all he cared they got married tomorrow, but his mother objected to that. "You are the king, my dear. A small wedding is not really an option, I'm afraid."

Loki huffed. "One of the perks of being king is getting to do what I want, mother!" He winked at Mirilya when she chuckled, hiding her smile behind her cup of tea.

"You still have to take your people into consideration, Loki. They have a right to a royal wedding too," Lady Frigga argued. "Before long, Mirilya was just a common girl. And she's pregnant too. If you want the people to accept her as their queen, you will have to follow some of the rules and traditions. Walhalla knows you haven't done so far!"

"I think your mother is right, Loki," Mirilya said, setting her empty cup down on a side table. "I mean, I don't particularly want the attention of a big wedding, but I understand why it would be necessary."

"But a big royal wedding takes a lot of planning. We don't have a lot of time, my love." Loki put his hand upon Mirilya's ever growing belly.

"If I can throw together a ball in little over than two weeks, I can also manage a royal wedding in a month or so," Lady Frigga said with a smile. "I agree we can't wait that much longer, already people are talking about Mirilya possibly being pregnant."

"Or they just think I'm fat," Mirilya suggested drily.

Loki watched the sharp lines of Mirilya's face. "I don't think you can fool anyone into thinking you're overweight."  
No, soon enough her pregnancy couldn't be hidden in loose fitting gowns anymore. Loki didn't care much about the opinion of the public when it came to premarital sex, but he wanted to be married before the baby was born.  
"Alright, mother, let's put the wheels in motion. We're having a royal marriage at the first possible date."

"If I can find a dress that fits," Mirilya muttered, but her worries were soon drowned in Lady Frigga's suggestions for different wedding dress styles.

Loki listened to the women for a while, slowly losing focus of what they were talking about. He even closed his eyes at some point, enjoying the sun on his face, his long limbs stretched out in front of him.  
His mother's voice got him out of his light slumber. "Will you allow your brother to return?"

Loki slowly opened one eye, seeing his mother looking at him expectantly. "Father banished him because he was not worthy. Last time I checked, he couldn't pick up that hammer yet," he answered casually.

Lady Frigga frowned at her son, clearly not pleased with his reaction.

"What do you want me to do, mother? Go against father's last decree? I'm not comfortable with that." Actually, Loki wouldn't mind very much to undo the Allfather's decisions, but he was pretty comfortable here without his brother around. Having to give up the throne to someone with a better claim to it would be bad, but giving up the throne to that oaf of a brother was even worse.

"Will you at least give it some thought?" His mother looked at him pleadingly and her eyes started to glisten. "I am sure your father would welcome him back by now too."

"I'm not so sure of that," Loki said slowly, although he knew he hurt his mother with a comment like that.

"Come on, Loki. Why not let Thor come back to Asgard and prove his worthiness here?" Mirilya withstood his glare with ease, she knew he would not get mad at her.

"Are you women teaming up on me now?" Loki sat up and got to his feet. "I should go back, I have a kingdom to rule." He leaned down to kiss Mirilya, one hand stroking her belly when he did. Before he left the balcony he looked back at his mother. "I promise I'll think about it, ok?"

Lady Frigga nodded gratefully. "Thank you, that's all I ask."

After he left his mother's rooms, Loki didn't go to the council meeting that was scheduled for this afternoon. Instead, he went to the library. The throne room was the only room in the palace that was bigger than the library. The huge space was filled with books and manuscripts, two stories high. Loki liked coming here, it was the one space he was the most comfortable, besides his rooms. Even more, before Mirilya he was even more at ease here than in his own room. The library was a quiet place, there were not many people that came here. Loki had spent days here, reading and researching, not meeting a soul.

He went up to the second floor, to the section where the oldest books were kept. They were written in Old Asgardian, a dead language, but Loki had learned how to read it long ago. He was one of few who could actually, the others being erudite old men, even by Asgardian standards. Most of the books were boring, not really worth reading. The knowledge in there had been copied and updated over the years, as it should. That meant this section of the library was the most secluded part of the palace, nobody ever came here. Nobody was interested in the knowledge that was in those books, nobody, except for Loki.

Although he did not suspect Heimdall was looking for him at the moment, he shrouded himself with magic anyway. Loki always did that when visiting the library for this purpose.

The Asgardian king walked directly to a bookcase in the corner, picking up a large volume with sheets of parchment in two hands. He placed the book on a table and opened it. The first couple of sheets were intact, but they were just there to hide a cavity in the book. Inside was a smaller book with handwritten pages, somewhat like a diary. When Loki first found this notebook, it had not been touched in centuries.

He took out the notebook and searched for the right page. With a wave of his hands he held a handheld mirror in his right hand, the green light of his magic dimming quickly. The surface of the mirror was tainted from time, but it didn't serve its original, mundane purpose anyway.

Carefully pronouncing the Old Asgardian words, Loki read the spell out loud. It was a long, intricate enchantment, written over nearly two pages of the diary.

When the last word was spoken, the surface of the mirror shimmered and the tainted glass changed into an image of a narrow cavity in a rock wall. Inside the cavity you could see a clearing in a forest. Loki knew this to be Alfheim, better yet, it was the portal to Alfheim. The portal was situated on the east side of a large rocky structure that jutted up from the soil, a few miles from the palace. This was a single purpose portal, it only allowed you to travel to Alfheim and back again. But it wasn't the portal Loki was looking for.

With a sliding motion across the surface of the mirror he changed the view, skipping across the various portals that were on Asgard. The portal in the forest, that he used to travel to Jotunheim, showed flickering images inside the portal. It was a sign of the instability of that particular gateway. There were more portals, most of them like the Alfheim portal: a gateway between Asgard and one other realm. Loki skipped the hidden portal underneath the rainbow bridge and found the portal he was looking for: the Bifrost.

He needed another spell to direct the Bifrost to the place he wanted to see and that enchantment was also written down in the diary. It was of course much easier to just go to the Observatory, but Loki didn't want Heimdall's eyes prying in his back.

He just wanted his own eyes to pry in Thor's back. The surface of the mirror shimmered again and the tiny town in New Mexico came into view. This was not the first time Loki checked in like this, but he had not done it often. He had to be quick too, if he kept the Bifrost focussed on one spot for too long, Heimdall would notice.

He found Thor in a workplace of some sorts, it looked like his brother was doing some heavy lifting. The human girl that was usually somewhere around Jane was there too, sitting with her butt on a desk while Thor was putting some metal construction together. The mortal was talking to Thor, her hands moving through the air as she did. A door opened and Jane came in, carrying a tray with sandwiches piled up on it. Loki watched how Thor greeted her with a kiss, before he took the tray from her and settled down with it at the desk. Both of the women took one sandwich from the tray and Thor made the rest disappear in no time.

It was odd to see Thor in such a domestic scene, his brother had never been one to play house. But Loki couldn't deny that Thor looked happy, he seemed to feel very much at home with the humans. On Asgard his brother was always doing something, preferably stuff that involved sparring, actual fighting or drinking. This was the most mellow he had ever seen the God of Thunder.

Loki used the spell again and shifted his view in the mirror to a temporary facility in the middle of the desert. It was the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility he had visited shortly after the Allfather went into Odinsleep. The humans had build the facility around Mjölnir and Loki chuckled when he saw the mighty hammer was still half buried into the soil. The ground around it was recently dug up, causing the hammer to sit at least six feet lower than it's original position. Loki suspected the humans had tried to dug the hammer out, wanting to transport it to another location.

"Good luck finding someone who's worthy," Loki chuckled softly to himself. He doubted there was a human on Midgard who could lift the hammer. If there was, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Besides, the humans didn't even know the hammer could only be lifted by someone who was deemed worthy. They were just grappling in the dark when it came to this. And the one person that had wielded the hammer for centuries, was preoccupied at the moment, more focussed at playing house with a mortal woman than finding a way to get his hammer back.


	27. Sunflowers

Loki strolled through the gardens at a slow pace, his thumb softly stroking the back of Mirilya's hand. They'd picked up the habit of taking a stroll after dinner, just the two of them. It was a nice opportunity to catch up, as Loki was often too busy during the day and Mirilya couldn't stay up late anymore. She needed all the rest she could get, it was getting harder and harder for her to keep up the facade that she was ok. She was far from that, a short walk through the gardens was all she could muster some days. But she insisted on going with him, saying she loved it too much to let it go.

Mirilya was cheerfully chatting about her day. Just like most days, Lady Loriana had visited her for a while to keep her company. "She wants to stay until after the baby is born, is that ok?"

"Sure," Loki answered, "why not? She's your friend, she can stay as long as she wants." He smiled down at Mirilya as she hugged his arm in delight. He hadn't really given the Alfheim party much thought. Of course they should go home eventually, but he actually barely noticed their presence in the palace, they fitted in very well.

"Look, those sunflowers finally started to bloom." Mirilya pointed with her free hand to a patch of sunflowers down the path.

They were planted there by some children, Loki believed it was part of a school assignment or something. The town kids came down to the palace gardens with their teacher once a week, learning about the different kinds of flora that grew there.  
"The kids will be happy when they see that, I almost feared the green stalks were all they were gonna get for all their hard work." Loki smiled down at Mirilya, his mind giving him a glimpse of a future where their own daughter would plant seeds and watch them grow into flowers.

"Loki? Have you decided what to do about Thor?" Her question was not unexpected, he knew she wanted him to lift Thor's banishment. She agreed with Lady Frigga that Thor could also prove his worthiness on Asgard, maybe even more than on Midgard.

"I don't know, my love. What if he returns and challenges me to the throne? As the oldest son, he has the better claim. Maybe not as long as he can't wield Mjölnir, but the moment he can, I am no longer king."

"I don't care," Mirilya said. "And you don't even like being king that much," she added with a smile. "You always complain you're sitting on your ass too much in meetings."

"True, I don't like all the meetings, but I do think I am doing a good job at ruling this realm."

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that! You're a good king, a little strict sometimes, but I believe you to be fair." Mirilya started to say something else, but suddenly her face scrunched up in a painful grimace.

Loki immediately gripped her by both arms, holding her up as he watched her intently. "What's wrong, love?"

A pained moan escaped her before she could answer. "A kick and cramps, again." The young woman dug her fingers in his forearms as another cramp shot through her stomach.

Loki cursed under his breath. This had happened before, the baby was getting bigger and stronger and her movements caused Mirilya a lot of discomfort. At first, feeling the baby move had been something to rejoice about, but that had changed. If the baby put a little force behind it now, it caused Mirilya to get painful cramps.

"Ow!" This was a bad one, Mirilya doubled over, her head against Loki's chest.

"I'm bringing you to Lady Eir," Loki said between clenched teeth, fear and anger battling for first place in his mind. At moments like this he hated his origins with a raging passion: his Frost Giant genes were hurting the woman he loved.

He picked her up in his arms gently, telling her to take a deep breath. Mirilya wasn't too fond of teleporting, it made her a little dizzy, but the healing rooms were on the other side of the palace and Loki wasn't going to walk all that way with her in his arms. He wanted to get her checked out as soon as possible. Besides, hurrying through the palace with a sick Mirilya in his arms would certainly raise unwanted questions.

Loki and Mirilya appeared in front of the healing rooms, startling a young healer who just closed up. "Open the doors. Get Lady Eir. Now!" Loki barked at her, pushing past the girl as soon as she opened the door for them.

He walked up to the table and carefully lowered Mirilya on it. His hand brushed against a wet spot on the back of her dress. She turned to her side a little to let him check and Loki's heart fell when he saw the dark spot just below her bum.

Blood.

Mirilya's eyes mirrored the fear that was in his own. They just stared at each other, not knowing what to do or what to say.

Lady Eir rushed in followed by the young healer who had fetched her and the next few minutes were a blur. Loki stood to the side while the two healers checked Mirilya thoroughly, the Soul Forge showing different images every few seconds. After a couple of minutes, Lady Eir stepped back and looked at Loki for the first time.

"Tell me," he said roughly, not sure of himself or his emotions.

"She had a little bleeding, nothing to alarming. Small bleedings can occur during a healthy pregnancy too. But in this case..." The healers voice trailed off, she seemed to be thinking hard.

"What?!" Loki had no patience for this. "What is wrong?!"

The young healer had helped Mirilya to sit up again and when his lover reached for him Loki went to her side, still glaring at the head healer. Lady Eir looked from one person to the other, contemplating her answer. Loki caught her glancing at the young healer and he understood the information that was following was delicate.

"You, out!" he ordered the girl. "And not a word of this, you understand?"

"Yes, my King, I understand." The young healer hurried out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

"She's a good girl, my King. She will not speak of this," Lady Eir said, her voice a little worried.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Loki waved her concerns away. "Now, tell us what's wrong with Mirilya!"

"Alright," Lady Eir said, taking a second to consider how she would tell this. "In a normal pregnancy a bleeding like this is not an immediate cause for concern. If the baby is still behaving normally and all vitals are good, losing a little blood isn't harmful."

"But?" Mirilya's voice was barely audible and Loki could feel her tremble slightly underneath his arm.

"But I'm worried the baby is causing the bleeding," Lady Eir answered gravely. "Your uterus is cramping up when the baby moves too much and I'm worried the placenta will get damaged at some point."

"What will happen then?" Loki was afraid to ask, but he had to know.

"Although the baby is growing faster than normal, it's still too early in the pregnancy. If the placenta would tear, you could lose the baby." Lady Eir pressed her lips together, clearly not happy with her role of messenger.

"And Mirilya? Is she in danger too?"

Lady Eir's nod was almost invisible, but it was there. It took all of Loki's selfcontrol not to pick up the healer by her throat and throw her against the wall. This was not her fault. It was his. Him and his damned Jotun blood.

"What do we do?" Mirilya asked softly.

"Bedrest," Lady Eir answered. "That's really all we can do, besides monitoring you closely."

"So, no wedding next week?" The wedding was planned to take place in eight days, the seamstresses had just finished Mirilya's dress. The event had been announced last week and the palace was buzzing with anticipation ever since.

"If your health doesn't get worse I'm sure you'll be able to do the ceremony," Lady Eir said with a small smile. "But dancing and partying will have to wait 'til another time."

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of time for that later," Mirilya said, her natural optimism peeking through again.

Loki forced a smile on his face when she looked at him. "Of course, my love. Now, let's get you to bed." He held out his arms and picked Mirilya up. She put her arms around his neck, nuzzling her face against his shoulder.

"I'll be there first thing in the morning to check up on you," Lady Eir said and held the door open for them. But Loki didn't bother to walk to his rooms and teleported in his stride, startling the head healer.

After he put Mirilya in bed and she had fallen asleep in his arms, Loki got out of bed and sat down in one of the armchairs. He stared into the fire, replaying the events of today in his mind. He was scared for Mirilya's safety, afraid to lose her. Becoming a parent was wonderful, but he'd much rather have no heir if it meant keeping Mirilya by his side. Loki ran over every what-if in his mind, one even worse than the other. There was nothing he could do, except terminating the pregnancy and he knew Mirilya would never agree to that. And forcing her was something he would never do. If only he had the power to turn back time... yet in all his studies of magic he only ever found one way to do that. But that would require possessing the Time Stone, and he didn't even know where the damned thing was. For a second he contemplated looking for it, but he didn't want to leave Mirilya to go on a queeste that quite possibly would take ages.

Time seemed to be of the essence. He needed more time with Mirilya. Especially if that awful feeling deep down in his stomach turned out to be a true prophecy. Yet his days were filled with stupid meetings and conferences. Asgard was not the largest realm, but being an absolute monarchy it needed a hands on approach of its monarch. Loki thought back to Mirilya's words in the gardens, he already knew she didn't care much for him being king. She always said she loved him, not his crown. What if he did allow Thor to come back? Thor could take his place on the throne and Loki would be able to spend more time with Mirilya. The more he thought about it, the more he started to like the idea. He could be Thor's advisor, to keep him from doing stupid things.

Loki got up and checked on Mirilya. She was sound asleep. Carefully he brushed some stray hairs away from her face. She looked like an angel.  
"I'll be right back, my love," he whispered and brushed his lips across her cheek.


	28. Midgard

"Visiting your brother, my King?" Heimdall remarked as Loki stepped into the round Observatory.

"Yes, it's been a while," Loki said, faking politeness. He just wanted to get to Midgard as fast as possible. Heimdall sent him to the same spot as last time, the tribal burn from the other day etched over by this arrival. As soon as his feet touched the soil, Loki started to walk in the direction of the small town. No doubt that female scientist had noticed his use of the Bifrost, so Thor would probably be on the lookout for visitors.

Loki spotted his brother standing outside the workplace, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He had not counted on a warm reception considering their last encounter and Thor was indeed not exactly welcoming him with open arms.

"What are you doing here, Loki?"

"Can't a man visit his brother?" Loki smirked, spreading his hands.

"You are no man," Thor replied curtly.

"Can't deny that!" Loki actually laughed at that, his worries forgotten for a second.

"Cut it out, Loki. Just say what you came here to say and leave."

Behind the window of the workshop Loki spotted Jane, she was watching the exchange between the two Asgardians with a frown. The mortal was clearly no fan of the raven-haired brother and somehow that stung a little.  
"Believe it or not, I actually came here to see how you're doing. And to tell you mother says hello." Loki tried to look sincere, even though this reception had irked him already.

The mention of their mother softened Thor up a bit. "How is mother?"

"She's well. She misses you," Loki admitted.

"I miss her too." Thor looked years younger when he said that, but that look disappeared quickly again. The angry frown took its place and stared Loki down.

"How would you like to see mother again?" Loki smiled when he saw he caught his brother off guard with that question. "Maybe you could attend a wedding too."

"Ah, yes, congratulations on that. You're getting married after all," Thor said after a moment of silence.

Although it didn't really surprise him, Loki was not pleased his order to seal up the Bifrost had not been followed. Thor could not have heard about the wedding any other way.   
"Sif came to visit you?"  
Thor didn't answer, but he didn't have to, Loki knew he was right. However, that was something for another time. "Mirilya said she wanted to meet you, so I thought I would invite you."

"Did father wake up?"

"No, he's still in Odinsleep. Why?"

"Then I can't return."

Loki tried, but Thor was not to be swayed. The God of Thunder was adamant he should stay on Midgard, near Mjölnir, until he had proven himself worthy again.  
"So you won't come back for your family? You are choosing this dump" - Loki gestured to the tiny town around him - "over Asgard?!"  
Thor glanced back at the woman behind the window. "Ah, I see, you choose her over your family," Loki sneered.

"You seem to be doing perfectly fine without me," Thor answered through clenched teeth. The blond warrior turned around and started to walk to the workshop. "Goodbye, Loki."

A white hot rage filled Loki. His own brother chose Midgard and that mortal over his family. He needed Thor to come home, but the selfish bastard wanted to stay here, foolishly hoping to prove his worthiness by playing nice with the mortals.

"Heimdall!" Loki called out, the light of the Bifrost splitting the clouds in the next second.

When Loki stepped out of the Bifrost and wanted to walk right out of the Observatory, he was held back by Heimdall's solemn voice.  
"You are wanted in the infirmary, my King. I'm afraid your fiancée has taken a turn for the worse."

No! No, this was not happening!

Loki started to run and teleported himself back to the palace, still running when he appeared in the hallway next to the healing rooms. Two Einherjar stood watch and they quickly opened the doors when they saw their king materializing in front of them.

Inside, Loki immediately saw the bed with the Soul Forge glowing above it. The young healer that was with them before stood next to the bed, checking data on a tablet in her hand.

"My King," she said a little startled, when he brushed past her to get to the bed. Mirilya's eyes were closed and she seemed to be sleeping. Or was she sedated? He looked at the Soul Forge, but he did not quite understand what it all meant.

Mirilya's forehead burned against his cool hand as he brushed some hairs away from her face. She looked paler than ever, the dark rings under her eyes standing out like coals against the snow.  
"What happened?" Loki whispered.

"I... I'll get Lady Eir for you, my King," the young healer stammered.

"You don't know?" He kept his eyes on Mirilya's face, his right hand holding hers. She didn't react to his touch, but he could feel her pulse under his fingers.

"I do, my King, but..."

"Then you can tell me. Now."

Loki could hear the young woman swallow hard before she started to speak. "You were away, my King. One of the guards heard Lady Mirilya was in pain and she was brought here. She had a bleeding again, worse than before. There's a small rupture in the placenta, but that's not even what worries us the most. She developed a fever and her blood pressure shot up."

He let her words sink in. All the dangers of this pregnancy marched through his mind with heavy boots, like armies of the enemy, his doom approaching with every booming step.

"Lady Eir gave her a mild sedative to help calm her down," the young healer said softly. "She was panicking."

"I should have been here," Loki mumbled, gripping Mirilya's hand a little tighter.

"There was nothing you could do, my King." The healer didn't dare to look at him, but she spoke to him anyway. Loki admired her quiet bravery, she would do well as a healer. "The only thing to do was taking her here and that has been done. Now, we just have to wait until she wakes up again. See how she feels. We'll keep monitoring her closely."

"Where is the guard that brought her in?"

"I believe he is still outside, my King."

"Get him, please."

Loki watched Mirilya's face. Every now and then the corner of her mouth twitched, wrenching his gut with despair. Despite the sedation, Mirilya clearly wasn't comfortable. Loki placed his hands on both sides of her head, carefully invading her mind. He had never done this before, not with her, but he wanted to do something for her. He picked the memory of their first walk through the gardens together, when he took her to see the Rainbow Bridge by night. It was a memory he cherished, it was the night the seed of their love for each other had been planted.  
Loki concentrated on the memory, trying to fill Mirilya's head with it completely. He held his hands in place for a couple of minutes, until he was sure the little twitches of her mouth were gone. It might be wishful thinking, but he even thought he spotted the hint of a smile on her lips.

He turned around to the guard who had been standing behind him the entire time, quietly waiting for his king. "You are the one who brought Lady Mirilya here?"

"Yes, my King," the guard answered. He was one of the Einherjar that were assigned to the royal couple, tasked with the daily safekeeping of the king and his fiancée.

"I am grateful for what you did, Willon. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was just doing my job, my King," the guard replied modestly. "I heard Lady Mirilya cry out. And because I knew you were out, I suspected there was something wrong. She didn't respond when I knocked, but when I heard her cry out again I decided to enter anyway. Lady Mirilya was on the floor next to the bed. I saw blood and..."

"You took her here. That was a good call, I thank you for that." Loki put his hand on the guard's shoulder shortly, as a way to convey his thanks.

When the guard walked away, back to his place by the doors, Loki was overwhelmed by the feeling a guard, a servant, looked better after him and his family than his own brother. Thor refused to come back to Asgard, even when his mother and soon to be sister-in-law wanted him to come home. Thor knew about the wedding and chances were his friends also told him about the pregnancy rumours when they came to visit him on Midgard.

The idea that Thor was letting him down on purpose started to take root and really sprouted when Lady Loriana bursted in through the doors first thing in the morning. Loki was sleeping in a comfortable chair next to Mirilya's bed. He was jolted awake by Loriana's arrival and quickly put his fingers to his lips to keep her quiet. The Alfheim princess walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, watching her sleeping friend in the bed.

"How is she?"

"Stable," Loki replied softly, putting his hand over hers on his shoulder. Her simple gesture meant a lot to him, it meant she thought of him too, not only of her long time friend who was starting to wake up a little at that time.

Loriana gave him some room so he could have a moment with Mirilya. She was a little disoriented when she woke up and he quickly put his hand against her cheek to help her feel grounded again.  
"I'm here, my love," he whispered to her, kissing her brow.

"Loki?" Her hand gripped his and she started to sob. "I'm so sorry..."

"Oh, my love, don't be. It's not your fault." Loki swallowed hard. "You just have to concentrate on getting better." He wanted to tell her he was afraid of losing her, but he didn't want to scare her. She was scared enough already, tears streaming down her face.

Lady Loriana came to stand next to him. She reached for Mirilya's other hand and together they quietly talked to Mirilya, trying to keep her spirits up, until Lady Eir came in to check up on her.  
When the healer was done, she had a serious message for them. "You're stable now, Mirilya. The fever is down a little, but if it goes up again, we'll have to intervene."

"How?" Mirilya asked, holding on to Loki's and Loriana's hands.

"By performing an operation to deliver the baby."

Mirilya's eyes grew wide in shock. "But it's too early! Loki, Lori, it's too early for the baby to be born."

Loki stroked the unruly brown curls he loved so much. "We don't know that for sure, my love. Our baby girl isn't exactly the average baby, isn't she? But I'd rather save you, if I had to choose."

"Loki is right, honey," Loriana pitched in, her voice thick with emotion. "You have to put yourself first. After all, the baby needs you. We need you."

Mirilya broke down crying and Loki sat down on the bed to hold her in his arms. Loriana came to sit next to them, softly rubbing her friend's arm. Her brother Brent found them like that and when Loki saw the look in the young man's eyes he carefully untangled himself from Mirilya to let Brent take his place. No words were being said, but Loki knew the Lightelf felt his sister was in danger. Loriana would surely fill him in on the details, right now Loki didn't mind giving up his place to him. He had other things to take care off.

He leaned down to kiss Mirilya on her temple. "I'll be right back, my love. I'm going to make things right."  
The young woman was too distraught to notice the menace in his voice, but Loriana and Brent stared at him when they heard his words. Loriana was mostly confused at what he could mean, but in Brent's eyes he saw something else, something harder. Loki took it as approval of his plans, even though the Lightelf couldn't possible know what he planned to do.

When he stepped out of the healing room, he found Willon still on his post. "My King, I've got a message for you," the guard said to him. "Lady Sif has left her room again. Word is she went to the Observatory."

"And the Warriors Three?"

"I believe they went with her, my King."

"Of course they did..."

Loki wondered why he'd even expected them to behave differently. Their loyalty lay with Thor, his banished brother. Not with him, not with Mirilya. They probably had heard about her admission to the infirmary and wanted to make use of the opportunity, thinking he would be occupied with other things. Oh, how wrong they were! He would show them his undivided attention!


	29. Destroy

Loki swooped through the palace, making a short stop at the library and the palace vault, before teleporting to the Observatory. Heimdall was waiting for him outside, his hands on the hilt of his large sword. "It was all you, wasn't it? Tell me, Loki, how did you get the Jotuns into Asgard?"

Loki smirked at the dark skinned gatekeeper. Of course the undetected arrival of the Jotuns was a bee in Heimdal's bonnet. It bugged him enough to ask about that first, even though he must have foreseen at least parts of Loki's current plan.

"Did you really think the Bifrost was the only way into Asgard? There are lots of secret passageways, which you with all your powers have no knowledge of." Loki glared at Heimdal. "But let me reverse the question. Did you give Lady Sif and the Warriors Three passage to Midgard, despite my order to seal the Bifrost?"  
Heimdal didn't answer, he didn't have to, because they both knew what Loki was gonna say next. "Because of your act of treason I relieve you of your duty as gatekeeper!"

Heimdal changed his stance to one of action, lifting his sword. "Then I need no longer obey you!" the gatekeeper called out and lashed out with the large sword.

With a quick move of his hands Loki revealed the Casket of Ancient Winters and turned its powers on his opponent. Heimdall froze in place, his body being encapsulated by a thick layer of ice. Loki pulled the large sword from Heimdall's hand before that froze over too. He closed his eyes for a second, pushing back the bile in his throat. Without looking at himself he knew how he looked, how monstreous he had become. The white lines adorned his skin like a network of shallow cuts, standing out against the icy blue skin. Loki could feel every twist and turn of the lines, even underneath his clothes. Firmly, he reminded himself of the fact he was king of Asgard, to keep this dark spiral of thoughts at bay. He shook himself and casually walked into the Observatory. His mind was on a single track right now, he was not gonna let himself be distracted from his mission.

Loki slit the large sword in the elevated slot and opened the portal. He turned around to the Destroyer, who had followed him inside obediently. Loki lifted the spell that made it invisible and nodded appreciative at the impressive form of the Destroyer. The large sentinel walked up to the portal and stepped inside without hesitation. If only every warrior was that obedient, Lady Sif certainly wasn't and so were her friends. Hell, even his own brother never did what Loki asked of him, not even now he was king!

He deeply resented Thor's resignation to try and regain his worthiness on Midgard, huddled with some attractive mortal in a small settlement. It was below him! Thor could have been king of Asgard, ruling over the Nine Realms. Yet when the Allfather stripped him of his powers, the God of Thunder cowered down and made no attempt of getting up. No, Loki had proved himself to be a better king than his brother could ever be. At least he had stepped up to the plate when he was needed. Thor didn't even want to return to his former life when asked for reasons as simple as being with your family. His own brother had chosen Midgard and that mortal wench over his family!

Loki watched how the arrival of the Destroyer caused chaos in that tiny town on Midgard. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three fought for what they were worth, as Thor and his mortal friends tried to get the town people to safety. It was pathetic. "Your stay at Midgard has made you soft, brother," Loki hissed at the image the Bifrost showed him.

The Destroyer was making good work of laying the town to waste, taking the Warriors Three down in the process. Thor wasn't of much use, stripped of his powers the former God of Thunder could do little more than help evacuate the town. But Loki had to give his brother credit: he did put his muscles to work. He was ready to close the portal's view and go back to the palace, to Mirilya, when he heard Thor addressing him.

"Brother! Whatever I have done to you... whatever it is, I'm truly sorry for it! But these people are innocent. You can take my life, but not theirs. Whatever this is. It's over. Let's end this."

Loki smirked at his brother's brave words and answered out loud, even though Thor couldn't hear him. "Yes, let's end this, brother." He sent some final directions to The Destroyer and closed the portal just as the sentinel took a swing at the former God of Thunder. He would check in later with the sentinel, right now, he wanted to return to Mirilya as quickly as possible. Loki patted the frozen Heimdall on the head as he walked past him. "You keep watch for me, big boy."

When he came back to the healing rooms Brent and Lady Loriana were still there, and Loki was pleased to see his mother there too. She stood up to give him a hug and gave him room to go sit on the bed next to Mirilya. "How are you holding up, my love?" he said softly, holding out his hand to touch her cheek.

She grabbed his hand and held it to her face, pressing a kiss against his palm. Loki was shocked at how high her temperature was, it had spiked again in his short absence.  
Lady Loriana softly nudged his arm and gave him a wet washcloth, which he took to dab Mirilya's forehead and sleep. There were not many words spoken, it was not needed. To Loki it was like a shadow crept in from the corners, filling the room with dread. And the shadow kept coming closer in the next hour, until the point that Lady Eir stepped in and took Loki aside.

"Loki," she said softly, going back to the familiarity of his childhood, "it's time to take action. Mirilya is getting worse. If we want any chance of saving her..."

"You'll have to do it now. I understand." Loki glanced back to the woman he loved, her petite frame looking even smaller on the bed in the healing room. "Just... when there has to be made a choice between her and the baby, please save Mirilya."

Lady Eir nodded gravely, putting her hand on his arm. "We'll do our very best. There is still a chance we don't even need to make a choice."

Everything was put in motion after that, turning the healing room into some sort of beehive with frantic, but silent activity. Meanwhile, Mirilya was surrounded by the people that loved her, hugging her and kissing her. Nobody said goodbye, they just told her they would be waiting for her when she woke up again.

When it was time to take Mirilya into the operating room, Loki had a few moments alone with her. He pressed a kiss against her lips, her chapped lips that felt hot to his touch.

"I love you," she whispered, her voice cracked.

Loki lowered his head and nuzzled her cheek, her throat, that soft spot just below her ear that would always make her react to his touch in the best ways.  
"You are my life, my love, my anchor. I am so, so sorry for what is happening to you now. But we are going to get through this. I know we will. I love you so much." His voice was barely more than a whisper, but in her golden eyes he saw that she heard him, understood him as she always did.

"I'll see you in a bit," he said and kissed her one last time before the healers took her away to the operation room.

Lady Frigga put her arm around his waist and he placed his arm around her shoulders, allowing her to lean into him. Her closeness comforted him, although his insides seemed to be made of ice. Together they watched the doors to the operation room close.

"Please tell me she'll be alright, mother..."


	30. Destroyed

Loki leaned his head back against the cool stone wall of the secluded alcove, his feet up on the stone bench by the window. A good few yards down the hall were the doors to the healing room, an Einherjar posted on each side of the double doors. After they took Mirilya in the operating room he just had to get away from there. He couldn't bear to have to wait with the others, all eyes glued to the doors through which they had taken Mirilya away.

Hurried footsteps down the hall caught his attention, but it was only one of his mother's servants, exchanging a few words with the guards before he went inside the healing room. Loki heard the guards talk to each other quietly before returning to their formal stances again. For a brief moment he wondered what they were talking about, but the image of Mirilya's face when she told him she loved him kept swimming in front of his eyes. Part of him wished he had never met her, then all this would never have happened. His heart would not ache at the prospect of losing the woman he loved. The beating organ in his chest was held together by strings that frayed with the minute, barely holding up under the pressure.

To distract himself, Loki took out the old hand mirror and murmured the required spell. Faintly he registered his mother's servant coming back in the hall again, his footsteps returning in the direction he came from. The mirror's surface shimmered and it took a few moments to focus. It took another moment for Loki to understand what he saw.

The Destroyer was on the ground, smashed and battered in a way that was eerily familiar to Loki. The town showed the aftermath of heavy battle, almost as if a tornado tore up the town. There wasn't a window not broken in the vicinity of the large sentinel and the first people started to carefully make their way through the debris to check out the damage. The Warriors Three, Lady Sif and Thor were nowhere to be seen. Their mortal friends also didn't seem to be among the people scattered around the street.

Suspicion trickled down Loki's mind like ice cream dripping down the cone on a hot summer day and he quickly changed the view in the hand mirror. With a shimmer the makeshift facility in the middle of the desert came into view, the place crawling with mortals. All their attention was concentrated on the center of the facility, where Loki knew Mjölnir was buried into the ground. At least, that's where the weapon used to be. Right now, only the hole were his brothers mighty hammer used to be remained.

Thor was worthy again.

A cool breeze of relief washed over his white hot fury and left him shaking. Loki swung his feet down to the floor and leaned forward on his knees. He held his head in his hands, trying to silence the turmoil inside. He didn't know how much time he had before Thor would show up. He glanced at the mirror, which shimmered again and showed him the Rainbow Bridge and the Observatory. Of course, Heimdall was gone too.

Loki tucked the hand mirror away and got up to his feet. His first steps were unsteady, but by the time he neared the Einherjar who opened the doors to the healing room for him he had found his confident footing again.

His mother's arms were around him the moment he set foot into the healing room. "Oh, Loki, have you heard? Your father is showing signs of more awareness. He might wake up soon!"

Lady Frigga's voice was full of hope and joy, something Loki couldn't share when he heard her words.  
"Shouldn't you be with him when he wakes up?" he asked his mother, gently untangling himself from her arms.

"No, honey," she said, placing her hand against his cheek. "I want to be here for you and Mirilya. Your father would understand."

From the look of the people in the room there was no news yet. Brent was leaning against the far wall of the room, his arms crossed before his chest. The young man was staring at the floor and he had not moved an inch in the time Loki was outside. Lady Loriana was sitting in a chair next to Brent, she had dropped her royal attitude completely and was biting her nails. Her hair was a mess, probably from running her hands through it repeatedly.

When the doors of the operating room opened and Lady Eir stepped through with a solemn look on her pale face, Loki felt the last strings that held his heart together snap. He broke down into a thousand pieces, body and mind simply ceasing to exist.

How he registered the way his mother's arms clung to him, or the high wail of Lady Loriana, he did not know. He did find himself looking at the brother of the young woman he had loved so much. Brent's eyes were a shade darker than Mirilya's, but they bore the same intensity. Those eyes were fixed on Loki's face now, burning with hate. That feeling was well known to Loki, he felt the same way. Hate spiked his insides on icy spears, almost to the point of poking through his skin. The Jotun lines there burned like fire, even when they could not be seen.

His mother was talking to him, but he could not hear what she was saying. Loki pried her arms away from him and strode away with big steps. Pain vibrated in his body, searing through every nerve ending. The palace walls blurred together, Loki was not exactly sure where he was going. But when he rounded a corner and saw that familiar flash of red, Loki knew.

The brothers stood facing each other, a few yards between them. Thor was wearing his armour again, Mjölnir firmly in his hand. Yet, he made no move at Loki, the two of them were still staring at each other outside Odin's room when Lady Frigga came running.

"Thor!" she exclaimed, shocked by his sudden appearance. But his alert stance told her not to move in his direction. Her youngest son was also not to be touched, his body language was more than clear.

"Hello, mother," Thor said gravely, his eyes never leaving Loki. "Tell her, Loki, how you sent the Destroyer to kill me."

Lady Frigga gasped and she wanted to say something, but she was cut short by Loki's ice cold voice. "It must have been enforcing father's last command."

"After all this time?" Thor barked out a harsh laugh. "No, Loki, this was you."

"You can accuse me all you want, but we'll have to talk about this another time." Loki haughtily waived Thor's protest away and conjured up Gungnir in his hand. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to destroy Jotunheim!"

Thor made a move to stop his brother, but was thrown back by a blast of Gungnir. Loki put enough force behind it to smash his warrior brother through the wall. Without looking back Loki started to run, teleporting as he did.

He did not have much time. The Observatory was deserted, the dark skinned gatekeeper nowhere to be seen. Loki activated the Bifrost and turned its power to Jotunheim, that cold barren realm that had made him kill his beloved. Being Laufey's son had destroyed everything. It had made him plant the seed of destruction in Mirilya's womb, taking her life and that of their daughter. Laufey was dead, but his realm was still existent. But not for long!

"What are you doing?!" Thor bellowed when he landed in front of the Observatory.

Loki paced around the elevated center of the dome. The air was filled with power, rooting up from the center of the Bifrost like the branches of a tree. "You can't stop it. The power of the Bifrost wil built until it rips Jotunheim apart!" He pointed Gungnir at Thor and threw him back again, skidding across the Rainbow Bridge on his back.

Thor was quick to his feet. "Why have you done this?!"

"To destroy everything that has destroyed me!" Loki's chest rose and sunk raggedly. "I will prove to father that I am a worthy son. That I have done everything in my power to keep Asgard and its people safe. Everyone but..."  
He couldn't. He could not say her name. He had failed her. Every promise he had made to never hurt her, he had broken. But he would not break his oath as king of Asgard. He would wipe out the Jotuns and the threat they possessed. No one would ever be harmed again by a Frost Giant.  
"What do you care anyway? You weren't here. You didn't do your duty as oldest son!" Loki sneered and pointed Gungnir at Thor again.

"I have changed," Thor answered through clenched teeth, gripping Mjölnir tightly.

"So have I," Loki called out. "Now, fight me!"

Thor jumped to the side and narrowly escaped another blast by Gungnir. Loki stalked across the round Observatory. "I never wanted the throne. I only ever wanted to be your equal!"

Thor remained where he stood. "I don't want to fight you."

"What happened on Midgard that made you so soft?" Loki cackled. "Don't tell me it was that woman."

He smirked when he saw the look in Thor's eyes. "Oh, it was! Well, maybe when I'm done here I'll pay her a visit myself!"

That finally got the reaction out of Thor that Loki was looking for. He desperately wanted someone to fight him, to give him a physical outlet for all the pain he felt. And Thor seemed more than happy to oblige, fighting his younger brother for what he was worth. Mjölnir and Gungnir were formidable weapons, clashing together with mighty force. The air crackled with magic when Thor and Loki clashed together. With a loud crash they ended up outside the Observatory. Loki made use of the momentary confusion and let an illusion of himself hang off the bridge. "Thor! Brother, please!"

Pleased with his acting skills Loki watched how Thor hesitated only for a second before lending a hand to his brother. He smirked as Thor's hand went right through the illusion and stabbed him in the back with Gungnir. Thor groaned and fell down, laughed upon by a multitude of Loki's.

The God of Thunder got up to his knees. "Enough!" he yelled, bringing his hammer down.

The surge of lightning shattered the illusions and threw Loki back, Gungnir flying from his hand. He landed with a hard thud on his back on the Rainbow Bridge, all air pushed from his lungs. He didn't get a chance to catch his breath because Thor placed Mjölnir on his chest. That damned hammer was impossible to lift for someone who wasn't worthy and to Loki it seemed to weigh a ton. The mighty weapon pushed him down against the flat surface of the Rainbow Bridge, Thor towering over him. For a second Loki thought his brother might have mercy and help him up, but Thor turned around and carefully shuffled over the Rainbow Bridge towards the Observatory. The power of the Bifrost lit up the whole dome like it was on fire and the bridge started to shake. Loki felt the deck vibrate when the powerful beam of the Bifrost exploded from the Observatory, piercing through space.

"Look at you!" Loki snarled at Thor's back. "The mighty Thor with all your strength. And what good does it do you now, huh?! Do you hear me, brother? There is nothing you can do!"

Loki gasped for air when Mjölnir suddenly flew off his chest to his brother's hand. Wide-eyed Loki watched Thor bring down the hammer on the deck. He slowly got to his feet, finding it hard to process what he was witnessing. If Thor destroyed the bridge and the Observatory, the Bifrost was lost. The main connection to the other realms would be gone, including the connection to his brother's beloved mortal.  
"What are you doing?" he called out. "If you destroy the bridge you'll never see her again!"

Loki quickly picked up Gungnir and jumped for Thor as he heard his brother speak.

"I'm sorry, Jane," Thor said softly before he brought Mjölnir up for one mighty, destroying swing. 

He was too late, the hammer crashed down on the surface and that was too much for the already strained Rainbow Bridge. Loki collided with Thor the moment the Observatory exploded from the powers of the Bifrost and Mjölnir combined. Loki's momentum made them both topple over the edge of the bridge into the vast nothingness of space below Asgard. In a flash Loki saw the black ripple in space a little below him: the portal. It was more like a wormhole in time and space than a stable portal, that was why he had never used it. Funny to see it now, wasn't life supposed to be flashing before your eyes when you plummeted to your death?

A sharp tug at his shoulder made Loki's body turn the right side up again. Instead of falling face first into space he now hung below the bridge, the lower end of Gungnir firmly grasped in his hand. His shoulder ached from the sudden movement and he knew he couldn't hold on for much longer. His hand would slip. But would that be so bad? There was nothing left for him on Asgard anyway. The firstborn son was back to wield his mighty hammer and demand his crown.

Thor held on to the other end of the staff, hanging upside down from the bridge. But who was holding Thor? Loki sucked in his breath when he recognised the Allfather standing on the ragged edge of the bridge. Odin had Thor's ankle in his grasp, looking down on his two sons. Or his son and Laufey's son, Loki thought sourly. No matter what he would do, he would always be the enemy's son. The son of a monster. A monster himself.

"I could have done it, father," Loki exclaimed. "I could have done it. For you. For all of us."

Odin looked down on him. The first time they looked at each other since the old man went into Odinsleep. His one eye judged Loki, judged his youngest son. "No, Loki."

Loki stared back at the Allfather. Those two words seemed to sum up his whole life. He was raised as a prince, yet he could not be king. He tried to earn his father's approval, only to learn that his father had lied to him his whole life. And now that he found love, that was cruelly ripped away too.

He felt the smooth surface of the staff in his hand. All he had to do was let go.

He let go.

"Loki, no!"

The pain in Thor's voice caused a pang of regret in Loki's chest. But as he saw Odin's unmoved face he knew he had made the right choice. There was no place for him at Asgard. Loki closed his eyes and concentrated on his memory of Mirilya.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note:  
> ...  
> That's it.  
> ....
> 
> This was the last chapter of The Fallen Prince. I hope you liked this story, despite all the hurt and pain the characters had to go through. This story was hard to write for me, even though I only had to fill in the details: the rough outline was clear to me from the beginning. I had to hurt my characters and that turned out to be a hard thing to do.
> 
> Thank you for reading, thank you for your kudos and thank you for your comments! I love hearing from you!
> 
> This story was first published on Wattpad.


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